Re: Chocolate showpieces

Posted by Steve Klc on March 12, 1999 at 10:28:53:

In Reply to: Chocolate showpieces posted by Ann Archbold on February 04, 1999 at 16:38:16:

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: I'm looking to develop my chocolate showpiece skills (how to design, build, what judges are looking for, techniques, etc.) Anyone out there that can pass on a website, book title, resource of any kind at all? Classes are the answer, but money to go across country to attend is nil, and getting time off from "the business" is not an option.If only E. Notter did house calls. Help if you can hear me.

Hey Ann--forget about the Oppeneder book. It's amateurish, inelegant, the work isn't very clean, the techniques aren't "modern," and I could go on and on. Oppeneder is an Ewald Notter wannabe and doesn't come close to Ewald's ability and talent. You'd save alot of money by buying Jacques Torres' Dessert Circus for an introduction to working with tempered chocolate, which is where all chocolate showpieces begin and end. Jacques has 10 well-written, accessible pages in there on tempered chocolate work that will get you started at a bargain price. I'm not aware of another book that will help you as much--unfortunately, current writing is not representative of the best work being done today in chocolate artistry. You should make time to take a class with Ewald, or better yet, with Jacquy Pfeiffer in Chicago. His students have been very successful in the best US Pastry competitions, like Patisfrance, and abroad, like the Chocolate Masters. Jacquy is probably the most influential pastry chef in the US with respect to showpiece design and construction. If you are a professional pastry chef, making the time to study with Jacquy would be well worth it--and it's a business deduction! Otherwise, your best bet would be to find the best pastry chef in your area--who has a track record for chocolate showpieces--and volunteer to work with him. You're from Vancouver, I think. Well, see if Thomas Haas is still there--I think he works at the Four Seasons Hotel. He's studied with Jacquy and has won at Patisfrance in past years. He is excellent. Feel free to drop by my site, too--and I'd be glad to help you with answers to any questions you may have. There's no substitute for good teachers, though--you need someone with the background and experience to tell you what standards you need to adhere to--to define what is excellent from what is merely acceptable. Good luck.

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