Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer, Petit Fours

Today we begin the Petit Fours section of the course. Petit Fours are small bite-sized pastries that you'll often see at hotels and resorts, etc. Some common examples are small fruit tarts, or macarons. Over the next 2 weeks, I'll be making a variety of different Petit Fours, and sharing them with you on my blog. And if you live near the Chicagoland area, I'd be happy to ACTUALLY share them with you. So stay tuned.

Our instructor for Petit Fours is none other than Jacquy Pfeiffer, co-founder of the French Pastry School. Chef Jacquy is one of the finest chefs in the world, and boasts an amazing resume. Take a look at his credentials at http://www.frenchpastryschool.com/about_us/jacquy_pfeiffer.html.

In addition, Chef Jacquy has recently returned from France where he was competing for prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France title. The M.O.F. title in pastry has been awarded to only 113 French pastry chefs around the world (including Sebastien Canonne, the other co-founder of the French Pastry School.) There are only four pastry M.O.F.’s living in the USA today. Chef Jacquy just learned that he has advanced to the finals of the M.O.F. competition this fall, where he should be awarded the M.O.F. title. When Chef Jacquy completes his M.O.F., the French Pastry School will be the only school in the use with 2 M.O.F.'s on staff.

Finally, we drew new partners today in class. Initially I was set to be partners with Lauren, but that changed when that would have meant that Tara, who just started school with us 2 weeks ago, would be without a partner again. So Chef Jacquy asked me if I would work without a partner for the next couple weeks, and I agreed. This means that rather than sharing all the work with a partner, I'll be responsible for completing all of the products on my own, as well as doing all of my dishes, etc. It will be challenging, but I'm looking forward to it.