Posted by Gerard on November 10, 1998 at 15:59:23:
In Reply to: Re: Baker vs. Pastry Chef posted by B. Young on November 10, 1998 at 14:14:57:
Hi
Matt and yourself are both correct, or should I say I agree whether we're right or not.
Often the easiest thing to do is look at France, patissier and boulanger are distinct disciplines.
Matt and I have chatted this around often over on CIS, everyone wants to be a pastry chef and too many don't spend the time to master the basics of baking.
In reality it IS possible to become what employers will call their pastry chef.
Some sort of reordering of the nomenclature is probably in order.
When I apprenticed it was expected that if you wanted to be a pastry chef you had to learn baking, not just bread but the whole picture to chef de la patissier.
Things have changed a bit, due to the exposive demand for plated desserts.
Back when I was working as pastry chef I always set the plated desserts up to be served by the garde manger or salad station, its not inconcieveable those people are working as pastry chefs now..
and why not?
So, does it make sense to work to European standards (with little appreciation?).
Or do what it takes to fill the demand for pastry chefs?
A good well trained pastry chef should be able to do the breads , breakfast pastries and the desserts.
Add to that artistic show work, pulled sugar and pastillage/choc/blown sugar masterpieces and you've got the real McCoy.
I just don't know what we call that person if anyone doing plated desserts is called a pastry chef.
All bakers and pastry chefs should buy and read the current issue of Pastry art and design, for once its not full of what the magazine thinks but rather what we in the trenches think.
You can't help but get the impression tha magazine itself is out of touch with that which it's supposed to follow, maybe its been trying to create instead of report.
I still prefer to think of myself as just a baker.
Cheers, Gerard, le peu de tout!