tan319

That East European cookbook crack is too much But, Patrick, I'm looking at those pix of the Concorde and you can even see some crumb there!!! The detail is pretty amazing. They look like Bon Appetit photos. Do you also shoot pix with black backgrounds?

If there's any shoppes around that sell wedding cake or cake decorator supplies you should be able to pick up some trimoline or numoline, one of those guys. Is the Wybauw book available thru normal channels or just the usual suspects, ie: JBPrince, etc.? Good Luck!

Too bad it's subscription only...

Or maybe Chodorow has joined the crew?

I completely forgot in post to say how much I would dig the culinary I-tunes concept myself, as long as I got the pictures and such. Great idea. akwa does have a point though, there's an awful lot of stuff out there. Precisely. Exactly. THAT is what I want! ←

A nice recipe. The sheeter in the icebox idea is boss, btw.

What a great topic, sorry I came to it so late. I've been thinking about a book like some of akwas and others ideas suggest for awhile now. If for no other reason then to satisfy some of my own thirst for knowledge and curiosity. It's hard to figure out if there's a market that very large for this kind of tome but, one has to wonder how well Grey Kunz' book did compared to something like The French Laundry book, let alone the Emerils and such. Does it matter? Figure that most cookbooks may not even recoup their cost and advance. As far as the market for the more expensive books go, I wonder how many of the folks over in the 'Hermes Chocolate Desserts' book thread have forked over the bucks for the Hermes pro book? At least a few have, and more then likely they've discovered that some ingredients aside, the recipes aren't that much different. The cost is the major factor there. I've been attracted to some of these compilation books like 'S-21' ( which I own) and "Cocina Dulce" which I don't own, yet. Another book that is not purely pastry oriented whose layout I really admire is the "Hot Chef's, Hip Cuisine" book, another compilation, which has a bit of a bio then two or three recipes from chefs from all over the world . Re: Crossover beween savory and sweet: The above mentioned book, which can be had for pretty cheaply at Amazon.com, would be a really good purchase for the savory cook just getting into the use of more pastry oriented ingredients. My recent experiences in FL. made obvious to me the hurdles some cooks may encounter with the simplest ingredients, such as sheet gelatine, let alone sodium alginate. Even the concept of scaling out ingredients was a somewhat alien experience for some. There maybe an idea for a book there. "When Savory Meets Sweet:A Pastry Ingredient Primer For The Savory Cook"

I would go ahead with the non fat dry milk. I've usually used that in all of my ice cream bases and they've never lacked richness or fullness. I just recently used 'NIDO' whole milk powder in Miami and it was cool but I didn't really get a chance to compare a lot of recipes back to back. You would be able to get it in any Spanish food store too, maybe even a French grocery store. Re: A large quanity of NFDM left over: It might be fun to experiment with the Hermes Choc ice cream recipe sans chocolate. Use a fruit or some vanilla as a substitute. Good Luck! Do you have any middle-eastern stores close by? If so, then you should be able to find whole powdered milk there. Look for KLIM or NIDO brands. If all else fails, I think skim should be ok. I could be wrong, but I believe it is the proteins in the powdered milk that gives the ice cream a good texture. Skim milk still has those. Elie ←

Speaking of wd50, some great stuff here on starchefs. Pastry Chef Sam Mason is featured http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/rising_star...o_s_mason.shtml along with Wylie Dufresne. Also, in the May issue of FoodArts magazine, a couple of Masons desserts are featured, including a more or less classically prepared chocolate consomme. FoodArts doesn't have a strong online presence yet, meaning you can't read the mag online but it's always worth seeking out on your newstand, a great mag. You can also get a free subscription if you're in the biz in some form by going to foodarts.com

Hi All! I was making chocolate financiers and an orange scented one in those mini flexi molds and just chalked up any little holes in the bottom to...? The chocolates were the only ones to do it semi regularly. Didn't stop them from being superfine to eat though. Oh, I baked them at 350 convection, fan high usually, about 15 minutes, egg whites barely beated, folded in.

I guess that I may have misundersaood that initial question, i thought it was what are you using and why? Across the board, not limited to the '50'%s'. The bottom line for me would be taste. I would like to see or feel the melt in them. But taste is my # 1 criteria.

Yeah, I made a mistake, I inferred that you think most people are morons, which you've never done. It was one of those "heat of the moment" typing errors that you try to catch by rereading your stuff but just pass you by. I hope you'll accept my sincere apologies for that. So.... I guess you didn't dig that "semi-graveyard shift" idea? T.

That's basically what I'm saying. I'm thinking of an instance that I've written about before, when I was first out there from culinary school. I got a job working for this pattisserie in D.C. that was very French, very much a big deal, and run by a Frenchman who was an accomplished pastry chef, features in PA&D, etc. He was running around with his head cut off, put a full sheet pan of napoleons out to cut, in the hot late June weather that's D.C. He got distracted by something else that he put us on for 45 minutes or so while these napoleons got softer and sofer and then gave me a 5 space wheel cutter and told me to portion the napoleons. So, being very green I start to cut these and they just start to crush down right away, because he took his eye off of the ball and forgot about them and they softened. Of course, this is a catastrophe and i went home, and I called up to see when (and if) the next time he wanted me to come out and of course the answer was never. Why try to teach some greeny how to cut a cake perfectly with a knife anyways? When you're busy as hell? Get a damned 8 space cake impression cutter, those round things that are more or less idiot proof and have at it? mentoring: When I work somewhere and have the luxury of hiring an assistant I look at anytime I spend as my money being spent. Budgets, etc.: As Wendy just said, having the talent is worthy of investing in as much as an oven or a mixer. Hardly anybody ever thinks of it that way but it is. Why hire 3 or 4 people who are half assed at minimum-ish wages then hire 1 or 2 at a competitive salary? To try to find a star? While you're killing yourself? I'm not coming at this as some one who is NOT in the business, I've run into the same kind of stuff and still am, I'm a fellow traveler. In places that have a lot on the line too, between national, even international food coverage, established reputations, etc. I'm working in a place that's next door to an almost house hold name in the cooking world's now "shuttered", (that's closed to you) establishment that had all kinds of press & hype, notably a huge Food Arts feature, that just rolled up the rug a few weeks ago, Food Arts, Food & Wine, none of them are going to keep us open. I agree about the having a laugh bit, not being all pc-ish, it's just you baker people, baker/owners really have this thing about no one understanding how it is to try to run a place with hardly any money, idiots everywhere, etc. I understand, really I do. Because I'm one of the idiots who HAS worked in these places, watching this whole thing go on, over & over SethG; I know it may seem a bit harsh, I don't know if I would feel comfortable saying anyone is a lousy mentor, if fact, I know I wouldn't. But it's a year or more later, 426 or 7 posts down the line probably more and mel is getting more and more popular, because she must be making some great stuff. A lot of us are pro's who have seen many scenarios and are just trying to help, believe it or not. We all want mel to succeed, to be everything she wants to be. But food on this level, the supply and demand, the demand for perfection, the need to be great 24/7 is almost like war. Really. And with it comes what is called 'The Fog of War', where the lines aren't drawn so carefully, it all gets a bit fuzzy and the margin for error gets high. That's at least what I'm trying to point out, and I think Wendy is too.

Maybe a solution to the 120 hour weeks and frustrations. Showing somebody how to cut something into 8 pieces on an asskicking saturday or sunday when everything is barely holding together doesn't seem too efficient. Why not pay top dollar to some certified pros, really put out the feelers and find them? It's hard to believe it may not pay off big even if it's a formidible expense, being that you're getting clobbered at the moment. Also, would it be a good idea, if you found some people you trust, to have production going on in a semi graveyard shift, like from when you close to when you come in? 7 or 8 pm to 3 am? Maybe it would make the workload less in some areas?

You're probably right, CG, it's just that general air of "look at what moron the wind just blew in" that always get's me.

Don't you think that the main thing that keeps bringing this blog back to this subject of "what morons people are' who work in the food business is this attitude of disdain for most people? I can totally understand noahbenami's take on what was said and actually, when he/she said there are different ways to do something as simple as crack an egg, it really crystallized for me. For one thing, anybody I've ever worked for absolutely hates a new hire just doing stuff like the last person they worked for did, without even asking about procedure. It's a great way to get your ass chewed on. It's also a sign of respect to ask people how they want it done, even if you think their recipe sucks. What if I would have assumed that the French guy I worked for made his brioche in the classic French way I make mine, which is not the way he does it at all? Or the executive pastry chef I work with now, do you think he would not be kind of miffed if I didn't at least inquire about a procedure for something of his that I'm making? I would be pissed. Most of the chefs I've worked for REALLY believe in the "THERE ARE NO DUMB QUESTIONS" rule. Two weeks ago the chef I'm working for at the moment, who's a two time James Beard award winner, amongst other's, the real thing, told about forty five people he had just hired that very phrase. And he meant it. At the moment I'm working with 90% Spanish speaking, 'English is barely my second language' type people who work their asses off to always do things right and do a great job and I have to BEG them to ask me questions because they would never want to, it would make them look weak. Or stupid. To their minds. It's stupid to think that asking a question is stupid. It seems that a lot of you people who work in the bakery side of this biz, where you are always trying to keep up with this unrelenting demand for product, which is almost impossible to keep up with, which means you have to work these 100 hour weeks or more, have the worst attitude about people! Which is probably why you're always looking for new hires. Who do you expect is going to come walking thru the door to work for 6, 7, 8 bucks an hour, for the most part? A Harvard grad? A Ducasse alum? We all know better then that. It's a grind, a bakery, that either you have to really really love, or you have to really really need the money, which was my reason for working in the one I was in. I don't really believe there is an in between on this. And we've all become conditioned, in a way, to think that 8 bucks an hour isn't that bad for what they do. 8 bucks an hour is the new 5.50, believe it. Mel is working 100 hours a week or more because it's her business, not because someone may ask"how do YOU crack an egg"? "Also, sad to say, I've never been in the position where I can afford to mentor a person that has little experience. I know I was there once, and someone gave me a break, but I've always needed someone to come in and "rock and roll" right away." That is sad to say...

A great response! . Well said

I'm with you on that one. Women chefs may have been woefully under represented in other catagories, pastry chef wasn't one of them. Pichet Ong could have been in there too. Re: best newspaper critique or review. Where was Hesser's "Spice Market" review??? Or was that the year before? Alan Richmans Vongrichten article for Esquire deserved to be in there, great if gritty article, that one. Won't it be kind of, say, 'sticky' if he wins and has to give a speech in front of everyone including JGV himself? I enjoyed Marianie' take on the awards a bunch too.

Great stuff in here, just wanted to add my 2 cents in. Taste is everything, isn't it? I don't use lower percentages much anymore, nothing lower then 58%, unless it's the E. Guittard 55%, which remains very impressive to me. My 58% preference right now is the El Rey one, pistoles if possible. A very profound chocolate. I use it in a flourless chocolate brownie I do, based on the Conticini recipe. I use 2/3rds 58% and 1/3 Tanzania, the 75% Origine Cocoa Barry chocolate, just for some added depth and complexity, otherwise I still feel it's too sweet. My higher percentage chocolates used are still Valrhona, the Grand Crus,mainly the 70% Guanaja and the 64% Manjari with an occasional trip into the Pur Caribe, their 66% Grand Cru chocolate. All of these satisfy my thirst for distinctiveness but even then I find myself blending these to arrive at a final flavor profile, say, using the Manjari as my main flavor note of acidity but rounding it out with the Guanaja, so it has a nice finish. My chocolate souffle recipe has been really successful using this method. This, of course, get's rather expensive but, as Steve says, we are incredibly lucky when we get to use these products. If I could find E. Guittard easier, I would have hardly any reservations at all in using their 55, 61 and 72% products, I enjoy them very much. I have switched my milks around a lot, mainly using a Cocoa Noel 35% or the El Rey 45%, that I really enjoy. I ended up not being very much in love with the Valrhona Jivara,more malt notes and less caramel to it to me. There you go!

Hey there! I somehow just came back to this thread, enjoying all of the Pacojet talk and was wondering, specifically from you, Steve, if you could share the titles of the books you mention above, as I've become a bit of a fan of Mssr. 'Paco'! thanks to all

chefG... Firstly, I hope everything is moving ahead with Alinea and can't wait to read about the opening. In the meantime I was hoping to get some advice on encapsulating liquids, namely green olive. the chef I'm working with wanted some garnish for a martini and my exec PC & I set about making piquillo pearls or caviar and we were trying to come up with a green olive shape, we call them "lava lamp' shapes. We rinsed the pitted olives free of oil and brine and then liquified and strained thru cheesecloth. We finished off the olive liquid with a bit of brine from the holding liquid, it tasted great. We found that our shapes were not setting up swell. We upped the alginate in some more olive liquid, it did a bit better, but I wanted to try upping the calcium cholride in our setting solution, which my cochef didn't want to hit yet. We were also trying to decide how to cure the look of it as it was slighly unappetizing visually (but that's another story). So, any advice from yourself or any other interested parties in what could be the problem here? Could it be residual oil from the olive cure or too much salinity? Does anyone ever read a ph level for the C.C. solution? Thanks in advance for any help, always much appreciated. P.S. all was not lost. The piquillo pearls made a great garnish for a cerviche! chefG wrote on Oct.24, 2004... Yes, very acturate digital scales are required for the measuring of most ingredients in the kitchen. All of our recipes are in metric and all of them are documented to the gram, some to the half gram if necessary. Your percentages seemed to be reversed. We basically use a 1% solution of alginate and a 2% calcium solution, but that can vary depending on what base liquid you are dealing with. ←

Hi, everyone. I hope you can help me with this. I ordered some agar from one of my suppliers and they sent me the sheet kind, which I've never used before. My experience is with the Tiger brand I think it's called. It comes in cello bags, powdered. Instead of going thru the hassle of sending this stuff back, do you think I can just process it into a powder, w/o any harm to the product? thanks in advance for your help, much appreciated.

are you open on Sundays too? Mel!

You didn't pick up any difference in the crumb, etc.? It's definitely a guilty pleasure for me.

chocolate chip cookies made with plugra are going to be awesome! One of my fave things