Good book to start with...

[markrock]

Hey all...I'm looking for a suggestion or two on a good introductory book for an aspiring pastry chef...I appreciate all suggestions, 'cause if I don't get outta retail soon, well...I swear, I'm gonna sock someone...!

Thanks!

Rock.

M.

[artisanbaker]

Probably the single most influential book in my career in the food business is "Becoming a Chef" by Page and Dornenburg. It deals with "chefs" in general, I attribute the fact that I took a risk and went to France for a year in 1996 solely to this book.

The Making of a Pastry Chef (MacLauchlan) is pretty good, but I didn't buy it til about 2 years ago.

Also of interest, "How to deal with all kinds of people" (Doe).

[Carrot Top]

1. Lenotre's Desserts and Pastries (might be out of print, could order perhaps through one of Amazon's vendors...?)

2. 'Desserts to Die For' by Marcel DeSaulniers

3. 'The Professional Pastry Chef' by Bo Friberg

All different, all excellent. These are books that will remain with you for years!

[Wendy DeBord]

Welcome Markrock!

I wanted to suggest that if your in a hurry to make a career change there are several good schools that teach pastry. Going to a school will excellorate your careeer change over. If your not interested in going to culinary school many people here have already given their advice about learning on the job.

I highly suggest you take a little time to read thru all the great advice and knowledge shared here at e-gullet-it could save you years of frustration. We've talked many times about career changing right here in the pastry department. Look thru our pages and pages of info. it's cheaper then buying a couple books and probably more packed with info. then most libraries.

You can post on a older topic to bring it back up if your looking for some personal feedback. Everyone has to start somewhere.......and eg has great people to help advise you.

Good Luck, I hope to hear more from you.

[SanFran88]

Some cooking schools may offer a shorter continuing education series. L'academie here in DC does a 20 lesson course based on the professional course. I took it on the advice of Steve Klc here on e-gullet and it was absolutely worth it. There are things you are just not going to learn (quickly) from a book. I think you'll find once you get a certain amount of knowledge and practice under your belt, the books you will be attracted to will change.

[Woods]

Hello Mackrock,

I have been in your same situation. I was in the medical field for 20+ years and went through too much anguish and feeling trapped. The kids grew up, I have quit medicine and will start baking and pastry school in Oct.

Lenotre's books, Bilheux and Escoffier, the CIA baking and pastry book have all inspiring to me. Also Linda Dannenberg's Paris Boulangerie Patisserie.

Good luck. Ask all the questions you can on this site. You will get informed answers most of the time!

Woods

[jgarner53]

Welcome, Mackrock,

Sinclair is right in that this board has a wealth of information to offer up.

I am in a similar situation to yours and finally decided to t the pastry by the horns and go to school. I hemmed and hawed over whether I want this as a career and finally realized that there are a hundred (or more) different ways to make this a career, from working in a restaurant to having your own business, so I'm sure to find my niche.

I'll be starting at Tante Marie's Cooking School (their part-time pastry course) in San Francisco in late September. Our text is going to be Nick Malgieri's How to Bake.

Good luck!

[duckduck]

I say start out with The Making of a Pastry Chef. Not to learn about making pastry but about the job and the industry. It was a good eye-opener. Glamorous, highpaying job? Not really. You do it for the love of it. The Le Cordon Bleu Dessert book is a good basic book for a little bit of money that is good for that person in your life that just wants one dessert book on the shelf but it has lots of cool little tips through it too. Professional Baking is good as well as The Professional Pastry Chef to start on the basics. I've been considering school and have been told by several people in the industry not to waste my time and money. They would rather see me start working for them and learn as I go. Many encourage you to go work for free on your weekends or evenings to get in a kitchen and get a feel for is this really what you want to do. I've read a number of interviews of people that are self taught as well. Not to discourage you from school but there are definately two different schools of thought out there. And there's always the world pastry forum that you can do in a week. Tons of information and gave me a good feeling of how deep into this I want to go. There are many levels here.

[lepatissier]

Yeah,

I would recommend Bo Friberg's "Professional Pastry Chef" if you want to "brush up" on basic technique before you get out into the "real world." The second edition is a lot more interesting (in my opinion) which builds on concepts taught in the first edition. But as I have learned, on the job training is the best book you could buy out there, as much as you learn in a book, (basic technique, recipes etc.) learning things on the job is the most valuable thing you can get. And every establishment, wherever you may work has their own way of doing things, and you may or may not be able to do things that way you want or are used to.

The CIA recently came out with their own textbook for their Pastry Arts Program, its called "Baking and Pastry: Mastering the Art and Craft " . . while it is a "basic" technique book, many of the concepts are CIA driven, and formulated for their program. I found it had some good examples and nice pictures, with some more modern takes on certain sections with recipes.

My Le Cordon Bleu P&B program was taught using "Professional Baking" by Wayne Gisslen, and at the time it seemed to to its job fairly well. Although, in retrospect, its not the best book out there, and while we were taught using Le Cordon Bleu developed manuals and "Professional Baking," our class found some of the recipes were flawed and needed a lot of "tweeking."

Well theres my two cents on that! Hehe, sorry to make it so long!