Phew with a side of Booyah

Dessert Service. Bake-off. Bread Room. Never again in my life will my days be so differentiated. This is mah time!

Monday was my first day on Dessert Service. One of the aspects to working in the Advanced Kitchen in the Pastry program is making dessert for the restaurant lunch service. The pastry side is responsible for two out of three desserts while the culinary kitchen makes one. Dessert Service has an aspect that is hella stressful but there is a side that is like going to Playland. You get to do whatever you want. Some people do ol' reliables like New York cheesecake with raspberry coulis or fruit tarts with some ice cream that are always a hit out of the park. People love those desserts because they are homey and they are guaranteed to taste good. Not everybody is as adventurous with their dining choices as they think they will be. But if you are like me, and your palate tends towards the bizarre, you kind of have to reign yourself in and make a decision for the masses.
That reigning-in resulted in my first dessert: Frozen Passionfruit Souffle with a chocolate biscuit and caramel. I think that's as mainstream as I go. The very next day I tried to sell people on chocolate rosemary scones. Not everyone was havin' it.

It was my first time plating my own dessert and having to do it essentially on my own. There was a large portion of the morning when I was preparing my dessert that I didn't think it was going to work. My eggs weren't whipping. My gelatine looked really bizarre. I hadn't even started my caramel and I had only made it once in the past without burning it or making it taste burnt. And then I feel all in a span of about ten minutes, it came together and I felt better. It would absolutely do it differently if I were going to do it again, but for my first try at an idea and for being my first dessert service. I am pleased. People responded well to it. You say 'passionfruit' and people stop listening. They don't even need to know what else is on the plate. They want it. 'Passionfruit mousse with a sardine pate.' "I want it!"

Yesterday I was on Bake-Off which essentially consisted of me making things up as I went along and Chef then coming in and telling me I did it wrong. This is when taking initiative doesn't always benefit. All good. Bake-Off is handling the ovens while all the Bake Shop stuff is in there, like the croissants, muffins, scones, then decorating what needs to be decorated and handing it off. The rest of your day consists of prep for the next day like muffin mix, prepping scones and making sure we have enough for bake off the next day. No probs. Every day in the bread room is an exercise to think through whether you could do it as work. Lifting 10 kg out of a planetary mixer is harder on a small person than you would think. I need one of those weight lifting belts. To be honest, though, everything in Advanced is an exercise in thinking whether you could do it for work. You can spend a full day glazing cakes. That gets boring.

I feel the further I get into the program the further I am from understanding what I want to do when I'm finished. I worked in the bread room Tuesday and Wednesday today and there is something so meditative and beautiful about the bread process. We have been assigned an influential chef in the baking and pastry world in which we have to do a research project and presentation. THis is one of those moments when university doesn't help you. I know I'm going to overwork this. I am going to have sources out of the wah-zoo. MLA citation. What's more, is I was assigned Peter Reinhart who is a bread god in his own right. His books are magical and his pizza crust is the best you will ever have. His passion for pizza alone is contagious. I've been geeking out on his Whole Grain Breads book, where he introduces a new fermentation process called 'delayed fermentation' which allows whole grain and low-gluten breads to be used to make bread that DOESN'T SUCK. If you are gluten intolerant, I am really sorry for you because gluten-free bread is an offence to the mouth. To all the senses, in general. But Peter Reinhart is your saviour. Put a picture of his above your mantle. Leave things for him. Appease him. Maybe he'll give you a sponge cake recipe next and then your life will be COMPLETE. If you want an introduction to Peter Reinhart, listen to his TEDtalk. His piece on bread used as a symbol for life is crazy beautiful. 

Peter Reinhart is working on something he calls "Pizza Quest" where he travels to find the best pizza crust and what makes good pizza crust. The second episode where he talks to two guys who are known in San Francisco as having some of the best pizza. It's a pretty cool video. And the pizza looks amazeballs. 

"We wanted a place where people felt taken care of." That's what I want too. That's what this whole food thing is supposed to be about. I could proselytize about the correlation between making food for people and the Eucharist. It's getting close to Easter so I'm getting weepy. But I'm not going to. That's for the other blog. 

I found this Swedish Patisserie called Holy Sweet -this link should take you to the translated page- and they encapsulate so much of what I want to do. They cater small gatherings and weddings and they do an entire range of cakes, cookies, confections and do it with such an intoxicating aesthetic. I originally found them when I found a cake of theirs that had these gorgeous pearls on it. So simple and elegant while being unique. 

O Holy Sweet at Flickr

I made some Irish Soda Bread over the weekend to celebrate St. Patty's. I'll post some pictures because it came out so nice and tall. The last time I made Irish Soda Bread was right around this time last year when I discovered that our oven was broken. Well…not broken. Overachieving. And by overachieving I mean it was 600 degrees at all times. YOu can't use your oven as a proofer in those instances. I was decidedly proud when the bread didn't come out scorched to crap this time. 

Eat a pizza. Talk loudly and obnoxiously about how good it is. Mention Peter Reinhart. Feel like a genius. Repeat.