KarenS

I can help here! We make 400 popovers a day. Of course we can't use a cold oven- it is needed for other things too. Use a hot oven and preheat your pans with the fat you are using in it (we use an oil spray).Make sure to bake them dark enough so that they won't fall.

I haven't replied in a long time- I was going through a burned out on computer stage. This topic is of a huge interest to me. I am a Pastry Chef- it has been a long, hard struggle. I still love what I do though. Pastry Chefs don't get a lot of recognition. I think that the American public has just started to recognize Chefs of any sort in the past twenty years. It took me ten years to convince my own parents that I had a "profession". I believe that pastry is still very new to the US. For many years "dessert" was pie, cake, cheesecake, or ice cream. I guess a small step has been made- we added creme brulee to that list! Proving yourself valuable has gotten me to where I am. This is a business, and if you make money people notice (or at least the smart business people). I worked in a hotel in SF for three years. When I first started all the banquet desserts were purchased outside, and there was no ice cream machine. I changed that and produced all of the banquet desserts. The food cost was lowered by 2 points in less then four months. That is a lot of money in a hotel with four food outlets! I was able to get the sheeter I wanted and the ice cream machine by showing my bosses $$$. The ice cream machine paid for itself in less then a year. I worked very hard. I am now in Hawaii- I liked the idea of having a life and doing Pastry. I certainly gave it up for a long time. I am the Pastry Chef for Neiman Marcus (kind of unique-the only one in the company). I was lucky to have a long term friendship with the Chef. He knew that if he fought for me I would make him money. I have made them money and now they realize that yes, they do need a Pastry Chef. I get equipment and recognition by making them money (not to mention perfume samples with brownies). Sure, I still make cake, pie, and cheesecake, but I also get to make other things too. I also am home by 2:00pm! Be friendly with your servers- give them treats too and answer their questions. Make them want to sell your desserts. (I run creme brulee as a special sometimes because the servers love it- that way I don't have to have it on the menu).

When I tried Northwest Dairies Organic milk, I was amazed at how good it was. I am a ho hum milk drinker- now I search this one out. Suvir, if you are ever on the west coast or in Hawaii, you should try it!

I've had a lot of raw "white tuna". In Hawaii it is albacore, but called tombo (the Japanese name.

I've never had to use stabilizers (I also don't respin the ice cream). Freeze less, make sure to seal plastic wrap to the surface of the ice cream- taste, and check in the morning- you may have to scrape off an inch where it melted). Spago, Postrio, Lark Creek Inn, Scalas Bistro, Campanile, all do not use stabilizers, they also make their bases with egg (oh, and the Ritz Carlton too). If you slightly dry fruit in the oven and then poach it in simple syrup (or macarate delicate fruit), this will help as you will replace the water with sugar. It will freeze creamier and not as icy. Corn syrup also can help for creaminess (it doesn't have to be as "fatty" from too much cream or egg.

Most breads cold, (and I don't need butter). We bake 400 popovers everyday (for lunch)- those should be warm. Bread should also be served with your starter (or salad/ soup). It is not an appetizer. I can't stand to see people wolf down a loaf of bread before they have been served any food- then they ask for more bread (of course, free). I agree that heating is not good for baguettes, levain, and other naturally fermented breads. You ruin the crust and dry out the bread (since they are only flour, water, and salt). The baker went through a lot of effort to create that glorious crust!

Msr Parisian: I went to school in Paris, but also have lived in Belgium. I personally believe that is wrong to have an inedible garnish on your plate. I am happy that you love food. Let's see, I have done everything for "la cuisine". I have worked my butt off! I really don't know if students know how hard it is! I love what I do, it has taken almost every minute of my life. It is an all consuming field. You can not survive in food if it is not your passion. enjoy your time in Paris!

Please contact Carolyn Weil or the Bakers Dozen re their extensive research on the merits of cane sugar vs. beet. I am a Bakers Dozen member who learned a lot about sugar from the group.

I have almost never purchased creme fraiche ( and I have been cooking since 1983, a Pastry Chef since 1993). I stir together (36% butterfat cream, and NOT ultraprocessed), 1 cup to half a T buttermilk. Leave it out overnight, (a very clean and fresh smelling container that is well covered). In SF it took almost the same amount of time (there I was producing for a hotel plus three restaurants). You will have creme fraiche by the next day (you can tell, the mixture will thicken and look like yogurt). Remember to refrigerate it after that. You can whip it when it is cold. I love creme fraiche.

Steve KlC, I have wondered about that. I have been in a lot of Costcos, visiting friends and family. The frozen chicken and butter look the same to me. I know that the cheese selection has gotten much better (fresh buffalo mozzarella, grated reggiano, etc...) Honolulu seems to have the same "regular items", but a huge local targeting. You can buy surfboards, Chinese rosewood furniture, Hawaiian jewelry, and all kinds of local products from lettuce to backpacks and clothing. The prices are the same as the mainland except for meat/wine/liquor. Karen

I find it interesting that you are refering me to a midwestern chef. Part of my "thing" about foams and gelees, it is seems to be very readily accepted by people in parts of the country where manipulation and boarder crossing in food is very common. I know that Claudia Feming made layered gelees very popular. The "foam" business has never been really accepted on the west coast (and in Hawaii). There is a lot of interesting ideas coming out of Spain. They will not all work in a lot of this country; sea water foam is silly in Hawaii. I have fresh fruit available to me every day. If I suspend fruit in gelee; people would prefer the fresh fruit with madelienes (or something like that). I am quite sure that I don't need (or will ever want) a foaming cartridge in my tool kit. I can do the same kind of thing without gimmicks. If someone served me a layered gelee at a banquet or benefit, I would feel cheated. They sure didn't have to work too hard did they? Where is any contrast? I really don't care who the chef is that is saying "it is cool". I am saying that "it is not".

I was there today! In Hawaii, there is a selection of fresh sushi. The fresh fish is really great (ahi, mahi, opah, opkakapka, tilapia (yuck), salmon, and trout). There is also a booth selling about 15 types of poke (raw fish and seafood mixtures). Another booth had Alaskan crab, NZ clams, whole salmon etc... There is an isle that is all kimchee plus kalua pig and turkey (this is fresh). Maui onions, big island tomatoes, plus locally grown lettuce and cucumbers (those I still buy at the farmers market. The asian food isle is huge (though you must buy miso and sambal olek in massive quantities). Dried whatever, noodles galore, rice in every variety. Surfboards, diving gear, Chinese furniture, surf shorts, aloha shirts, Hawaiian jewelery. Hawaiian flowers, avocadoes, dresses, shirts, quilts, pillows. I can never spend less then $80.

I remember when C.Trotter came to Hawaii and my friend asked him how he would like the rice cooked. His reply was "like a risotto". I am sooo tired of ass hole cooks. Who you are DOES come out in your food. I still say, the east coast is all about technique (plus scallops and clams). Lobster does nothing for me. I also get sick of it as "the ultimate meal". I would rather have sand dabs (I would make at home for my mom and I). I don't live with her, but I know what we like! My grandfather used to take me to Tadiches. I love dungeness crab and cioppino!!!

I certainly don't think that there is a lot of skill, refinement or technique in making a "foam" or a "gelee". Often people jump on trendy techniques just because they are trendy. I believe that there is often too much going on in "modern dessert plating"- where ingredients are so manipulated that you are not sure what you are eating. Often to me it seems as a way to disguise inferior or out of season items. If you have a beautiful apple or mango or peach, why not focus on having the fruit taste the best. A mouthful of gelatin is not appealing to me. I also wouldn't want it in my sabayon. Sometimes it seems to me that trends in pastry are more about "wowing" a person visually then thinking about taste. There are chefs that always garnish with mint (or garnish with sugar work that has nothing to do with the dessert- only there to be looked at, for that matter - garnish with a big piece of a spice or a hunk of an herb). I often wonder if they actually eat their own desserts. I can't stand to eat a dessert that has to be knocked over to be eaten. I also don't care for mixing tropical and non- tropical fruit together. I don't agree with a foam with foie gras. The foie gras is already soft and silky. You want something acidic, and maybe something crisp. If there is too much on the plate you will lose the beauty of the foie gras. I was served foie gras in a very well known restaurant with a sauternes gelee and hard caramel on the plate. The sauternes was "lost" to the gelee (it was too cold and firm also). The caramel was not edible, but fused to the plate. A bit of caramelised fruit and a drizzle of sauternes would have made this customer much happier.

You do not need pectin to make ice cream. Ice milk has no eggs but ice cream does. It is churned creme anglaise, which is an egg custard. I have been a Pastry Chef for 20 years, by the way- restaurant and hotel. I studied pastry in France. I guess that I am trying to say that you are very wrong!

Stev klc, I realize that my remark came out a little rude. Your cake is pretty. I have just wondered why you used that picture. I don't care for fondant because it tastes like a sugar cube (and most people peel it off to eat the cake).

Oh, bread is not an appetizer. It is supposed to be served with food. If you want an appetizer you should order one.

I can't stand it when servers carry check folders stuffed down the back of their pants. What are they thinking? Next to their sweaty skin and underwear? (or lack of underwear). Please don't put that on my table!

Steve Klc, What is with that wedding cake picture? It seems so boring with the sugar cube fondant. I am the woman who makes wedding cakes every-day.I love life. I have never thought of letting things go.

Hhmm... butternut squash, beets, turnips, celery root, peas. asparagus, artichokes, green beans, spinach, summer squash, tomatoes, corn, lima beans, fava beans, potatoes, carrots (and many more!)

Hawaiian mangoes (they are better here), raspberries, blueberries, white pineapple, blackberries I like fruit much much more then steak!

I read one of his editorials once. It was about not wearing sunglasses in Vermont. I could not figure out what that had to do with cooking (or who cared what they did with sunglasses in Vermont).

Hawaii (where I live) is an American state (and has been since 1959). The James Beard Awards placed Hawaii with the Pacific Northwest too. Thank you for moving it!

I have the new 6qt kitchenaid. I love it! It is in the professional series and has a 525 watt motor. The size of the bowl and much more power make a huge difference. There is also a new "slow start" so that you never splatter flour etc... I had always used the 5qt- now those bowls seem so small! It is also a much better machine for bread. Kitchenaid is discontinuing the 5qt (though they will still make accesories and "parts"). The 6qt is replacing it. My sister has the 4.5qt. We both agree that the screw in bowl and the flip top are irritating- plus the bowl is too small. I am very happy with the new 6qt (it has only been available for a couple of years).

The Chef at Masas is Ron Siegal (he is the guy who was the first American to win the Iron Chef). Julian Serrano has no connection to Masas anymore