31-03-2006, 06:46 AM
As careers go, certain elements tend to get neglected if you don't pay enough attention to them and one day you realise that there is a 'certain something missing'.
For the past year or so I've increasingly found my pastry skills sadly lacking. I guess this is due to a combination of factors:
a. My brother being a pastry Chef - I assume one day that we will open a restaurant together and so have concentrated on the other parts of the kitchen.
b. The time and patience needed for pastry work - to cut it short, recipes are needed for everything and measurements, cooking times etc are all mandatory. Failure to adhere to certain steps will result in the dessert not being perfect. I have very little patience and have viewed pastry work as something monotonous.
c. The hot kitchen has always excited me with the clash of pans, the heat, the passion etc. The pastry section seems rather subdued in this regard.
Bringing you back to the present journey, I happened to meet a pastry Chef on one of my evening 'meet and greet' at the restaurant. Little did I know at the time that she was regarded as Britain's top pastry Chef, along with being Chairperson of the Pastry Chefs Association.
As time went by I got to know her on a personal level, rather than a professional level and it was her that invited me to cook with her and a host of Master Chefs at the Rugby Football Union farewell for the England Team prior to their departure for their World Cup victory down under in Australia. Claire had asked a few months before the event whether I'd be interested in joining her on a function for 5000 people at Twickenham.
I had no idea what the event was for and agreed in principle - providing I could get my day off changed to suit the midweek function. Lo and behold the day arrived and on the way to Twickenham I was told that it had been reduced to only 2500 people and it was the farewell for the England Team. Claire was in charge of the dessert for the day and had spent many hours on her chocolate work.
Great fun to be there amongst all these stars, the Master Chefs and heroes of food, as we have come to know it in Britain today. And an experience I shall treasure for a lifetime.
Shortly after the event she was asked to become executive pastry Chef at one of London's newest openings, The Wolesly, next to the Ritz hotel in Mayfair. It was here that she intended to make her mark once again with Chef Chris Galvin. She had a pastry brigade of 9 people - We had a sum total of 6 people employed in our kitchen!
Granted this beautiful restaurant with antique silverware, smooth service and exceptionally good food was surprisingly voted as one of the TOP 50 RESTAURANTS worldwide after being open for only 6 months.
I had known Claire for over a year and yet never really experienced her in a professional sense. Time to pull the strings and do a short 'busman's holiday' working with her and seeing pastry work at its finest.
To begin, I was extremely nervous, palpably so, as my pastry skills were nowhere near what they ought to be and here I was pestering her for a 'stage' under her tutelage.
As most people who know me, I'm far from being a 'morning person' and to awake at 5am, commute into London and be ready to start the day at 7am was something I couldn't imagine doing.
They're the first in the kitchen in the morning; the last out the kitchen at night and their pressure is something totally different to what is experienced in the hot kitchen.
These guys are nuts!
Being relatively inexperienced and not wishing to cost the business any money, it was a slow start - measuring off, portioning etc. Service itself was rather sublime - mayhem was happening in the hot kitchen, yet in the pastry section it was calm!
How weird!
Separated completely from the hot kitchen, in a climate-controlled atmosphere, the pastry Chefs are left to 'get on with it'. There is a huge amount of Mise-en-Place to do and it seems insurmountable when you arrive first thing in the morning. Slowly but surely the workload gets ticked off as the hours fly by and before you know it, evening service is upon you.
Claire herself is both a fantastic tutor with oodles of patience pouring from her and a friend who is both knowledgeable and wise in the art of pastry.
Learning and working with the best - hopefully something will rub off and the experience will leave me slightly more fulfilled and on my way to a better and more successful future.
Our trips home in the early hours of the morning were insightful, informative and sometimes eye opening. The subjects ranged from the 'curse' of celebrity Chefs to the continuing demise of the catering profession. One thing that came through in all these chats is the amount of experience that she has and is willing to share IF only there were more willing students.
In years gone by, the choice of a career as that of a Chef was deemed 'last resort' by the guidance counsellors that recommended to a somewhat unenthusiastic school going public. Granted there were some people that entered the profession that actually wanted to become a Chef, however the majority were given the option of finishing school and going onto a career in the trades as they weren't deemed 'bright enough' to go to university.
This came as a complete shock to me as living in South Africa; one expected the locals here to regard their world-renowned culinary neighbours as something to be admired and somewhat inspirational. Quite the opposite in fact.
They despised their neighbours across the puddle and doomed future generations to be subject to a somewhat culinary catastrophe.
The celebrity Chefs have done some measure to improve the standing of being a profession that is worthy of joining, yet at the same time it has a somewhat negative effect on the expectations on generations of 'wannabe Chefs' who have no real concept of what its like working in a professional kitchen.
With most things, experience counts. This is achieved through hard work, dedication, perseverance, stamina and loads of passion. In time, as the techniques become perfected, the hours become 'normal' and he way of life embraced, the life of the Chef evolves from being a sponge on the generation of Masters to becoming disseminators of the Masters teachings.
A full circle.
Though the period this takes to accomplish can range from 10 years to a career lasting forty. Everyday spent in the company of these Chefs reinforces the belief that there is a whole host of people who have yet to discover what it truly means to 'live to eat'. Yes, it's a dying profession, but with more people becoming inspired to take up the tongs, pick up the knives and get into the kitchen to master the heat, the final call is still a very long way off.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Master Pastry Chef Claire Clark for allowing me a glimpse of what its like working with the best and how to consistently achieve the results without too much effort. Not only have I garnered a huge amount of professional respect for her department and what she manages to achieve on a daily basis but as a friend I know that I am welcome to join her at any time in the future for a refresher course.
I've touched briefly on the lifestyle of the pastry Chef yet cannot emphasise the important, somewhat thankless and downright unsocial life of becoming one.
Yes, I do prefer the humdrum and bustle of the hot kitchen - the sheer madness, apparent chaos and general noise associated with it. To give you a great example, my first service with Claire was spent in relative calm, yet out in the main kitchen it sounded like something from Master and Commander.
The orders were piling in, the general noise was subdued and then the bellowing timbre of the Chef could be heard:
' Right guys - this is it! Pressure is on and lets get those stations ROCKING! I need the food for the tables - lets GO!
C'MON lets get those stations COOKING!'
Listening to the marshalling of the troops by the supreme commander, followed by an audible increase in the tempo of the Chefs was exhilarating - just as the commander of the ship 'asked' his charges to increase the speed and so increase the work rate.
Remarkable!
All this time the cool heads in the pastry kitchen went about their business with a quiet enthusiasm, apparent disregard for 'colourful language' and made sure that every plate that went out was perfect.
What synergy! What complete and utter different methods of achieving the result of a perfect meal. After all it is the lasting impression that one leaves a restaurant with - the quality of the desserts!
Heroes for sure - they have a life that I do not envy, yet I know if pushed I could jump right in and join them on their silent cruise. Not only have they taken the time to get to know me as a person, but also seen the benefits of having a pair of 'cost free hands' to assist them with their daily tasks - quite unlike my initial few weeks in another highly regarded kitchen, though in their defence it was mainly in the hot kitchen that I spent my time.
I think women and the feminine self have got it right - they appreciate the efforts in making pastry and are only too happy to support the predominantly female masters of this art when dining out.
By ordering second helpings!
:chef:
Copyright and all rights reserved
Grant Hawthorne
May 2004
AKA Cheffie
For the past year or so I've increasingly found my pastry skills sadly lacking. I guess this is due to a combination of factors:
a. My brother being a pastry Chef - I assume one day that we will open a restaurant together and so have concentrated on the other parts of the kitchen.
b. The time and patience needed for pastry work - to cut it short, recipes are needed for everything and measurements, cooking times etc are all mandatory. Failure to adhere to certain steps will result in the dessert not being perfect. I have very little patience and have viewed pastry work as something monotonous.
c. The hot kitchen has always excited me with the clash of pans, the heat, the passion etc. The pastry section seems rather subdued in this regard.
Bringing you back to the present journey, I happened to meet a pastry Chef on one of my evening 'meet and greet' at the restaurant. Little did I know at the time that she was regarded as Britain's top pastry Chef, along with being Chairperson of the Pastry Chefs Association.
As time went by I got to know her on a personal level, rather than a professional level and it was her that invited me to cook with her and a host of Master Chefs at the Rugby Football Union farewell for the England Team prior to their departure for their World Cup victory down under in Australia. Claire had asked a few months before the event whether I'd be interested in joining her on a function for 5000 people at Twickenham.
I had no idea what the event was for and agreed in principle - providing I could get my day off changed to suit the midweek function. Lo and behold the day arrived and on the way to Twickenham I was told that it had been reduced to only 2500 people and it was the farewell for the England Team. Claire was in charge of the dessert for the day and had spent many hours on her chocolate work.
Great fun to be there amongst all these stars, the Master Chefs and heroes of food, as we have come to know it in Britain today. And an experience I shall treasure for a lifetime.
Shortly after the event she was asked to become executive pastry Chef at one of London's newest openings, The Wolesly, next to the Ritz hotel in Mayfair. It was here that she intended to make her mark once again with Chef Chris Galvin. She had a pastry brigade of 9 people - We had a sum total of 6 people employed in our kitchen!
Granted this beautiful restaurant with antique silverware, smooth service and exceptionally good food was surprisingly voted as one of the TOP 50 RESTAURANTS worldwide after being open for only 6 months.
I had known Claire for over a year and yet never really experienced her in a professional sense. Time to pull the strings and do a short 'busman's holiday' working with her and seeing pastry work at its finest.
To begin, I was extremely nervous, palpably so, as my pastry skills were nowhere near what they ought to be and here I was pestering her for a 'stage' under her tutelage.
As most people who know me, I'm far from being a 'morning person' and to awake at 5am, commute into London and be ready to start the day at 7am was something I couldn't imagine doing.
They're the first in the kitchen in the morning; the last out the kitchen at night and their pressure is something totally different to what is experienced in the hot kitchen.
These guys are nuts!
Being relatively inexperienced and not wishing to cost the business any money, it was a slow start - measuring off, portioning etc. Service itself was rather sublime - mayhem was happening in the hot kitchen, yet in the pastry section it was calm!
How weird!
Separated completely from the hot kitchen, in a climate-controlled atmosphere, the pastry Chefs are left to 'get on with it'. There is a huge amount of Mise-en-Place to do and it seems insurmountable when you arrive first thing in the morning. Slowly but surely the workload gets ticked off as the hours fly by and before you know it, evening service is upon you.
Claire herself is both a fantastic tutor with oodles of patience pouring from her and a friend who is both knowledgeable and wise in the art of pastry.
Learning and working with the best - hopefully something will rub off and the experience will leave me slightly more fulfilled and on my way to a better and more successful future.
Our trips home in the early hours of the morning were insightful, informative and sometimes eye opening. The subjects ranged from the 'curse' of celebrity Chefs to the continuing demise of the catering profession. One thing that came through in all these chats is the amount of experience that she has and is willing to share IF only there were more willing students.
In years gone by, the choice of a career as that of a Chef was deemed 'last resort' by the guidance counsellors that recommended to a somewhat unenthusiastic school going public. Granted there were some people that entered the profession that actually wanted to become a Chef, however the majority were given the option of finishing school and going onto a career in the trades as they weren't deemed 'bright enough' to go to university.
This came as a complete shock to me as living in South Africa; one expected the locals here to regard their world-renowned culinary neighbours as something to be admired and somewhat inspirational. Quite the opposite in fact.
They despised their neighbours across the puddle and doomed future generations to be subject to a somewhat culinary catastrophe.
The celebrity Chefs have done some measure to improve the standing of being a profession that is worthy of joining, yet at the same time it has a somewhat negative effect on the expectations on generations of 'wannabe Chefs' who have no real concept of what its like working in a professional kitchen.
With most things, experience counts. This is achieved through hard work, dedication, perseverance, stamina and loads of passion. In time, as the techniques become perfected, the hours become 'normal' and he way of life embraced, the life of the Chef evolves from being a sponge on the generation of Masters to becoming disseminators of the Masters teachings.
A full circle.
Though the period this takes to accomplish can range from 10 years to a career lasting forty. Everyday spent in the company of these Chefs reinforces the belief that there is a whole host of people who have yet to discover what it truly means to 'live to eat'. Yes, it's a dying profession, but with more people becoming inspired to take up the tongs, pick up the knives and get into the kitchen to master the heat, the final call is still a very long way off.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Master Pastry Chef Claire Clark for allowing me a glimpse of what its like working with the best and how to consistently achieve the results without too much effort. Not only have I garnered a huge amount of professional respect for her department and what she manages to achieve on a daily basis but as a friend I know that I am welcome to join her at any time in the future for a refresher course.
I've touched briefly on the lifestyle of the pastry Chef yet cannot emphasise the important, somewhat thankless and downright unsocial life of becoming one.
Yes, I do prefer the humdrum and bustle of the hot kitchen - the sheer madness, apparent chaos and general noise associated with it. To give you a great example, my first service with Claire was spent in relative calm, yet out in the main kitchen it sounded like something from Master and Commander.
The orders were piling in, the general noise was subdued and then the bellowing timbre of the Chef could be heard:
' Right guys - this is it! Pressure is on and lets get those stations ROCKING! I need the food for the tables - lets GO!
C'MON lets get those stations COOKING!'
Listening to the marshalling of the troops by the supreme commander, followed by an audible increase in the tempo of the Chefs was exhilarating - just as the commander of the ship 'asked' his charges to increase the speed and so increase the work rate.
Remarkable!
All this time the cool heads in the pastry kitchen went about their business with a quiet enthusiasm, apparent disregard for 'colourful language' and made sure that every plate that went out was perfect.
What synergy! What complete and utter different methods of achieving the result of a perfect meal. After all it is the lasting impression that one leaves a restaurant with - the quality of the desserts!
Heroes for sure - they have a life that I do not envy, yet I know if pushed I could jump right in and join them on their silent cruise. Not only have they taken the time to get to know me as a person, but also seen the benefits of having a pair of 'cost free hands' to assist them with their daily tasks - quite unlike my initial few weeks in another highly regarded kitchen, though in their defence it was mainly in the hot kitchen that I spent my time.
I think women and the feminine self have got it right - they appreciate the efforts in making pastry and are only too happy to support the predominantly female masters of this art when dining out.
By ordering second helpings!
:chef:
Copyright and all rights reserved
Grant Hawthorne
May 2004
AKA Cheffie
). Since writing the article, my dear friend Claire has gone across the pond to head up the pastry section of one of the finest restaurants in the world - The French Laundry.