Partners

So, yesterday I mentioned that I would not have a partner during this section of the program. That changed today, and now I'm partners with Tara. Aside from being a Michigan grad, she's pretty cool. She originally enrolled in the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC), but dropped out in favor or the French Pastry School. Apparently she's very happy about her decision. Over the last few months I've heard a lot about the other culinary schools in Chicago, and not much of it has been favorable. If you're interested in hearing more, let me know.

As for the whole partner issue, I don't want to write too much for 2 reasons. 1) I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings who might read this, and 2) I'm too tired to write, and I'm going to bed. But there was a little drama in the whole issue, and although I did not cause any, or involve myself in the drama, I'm still kind of in the middle of it. So email me or give me a call if you want to hear more.

But for now, I'm going to bed. 5:00 comes early tomorrow.

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.

Carlos

Today was our first day in Kitchen 2, our first day with Chef John, and our first day in the Tarts section. My new Partner for this section is Carlos, who is a very funny guy. I'm not sure he had the most experience coming into school, but he has doing a lot of practice at home and is progressing well. I'm looking forward to working with him over the next few weeks.

Over the last several weeks, I've been trying to figure out who in my class will be the superstars after graduation. Carlos may or may not end up being the most talented, but for some reason I think he has the ambition and drive to be very successful in the pastry field. I can see him being the guy that is wildly successful after taking a few risks and surrounding himself with the right people.

Carlos tends to be very quick witted, and has a good banter going with the Aussie, Pete. It's all good-natured fun, and everybody (almost) gets along really well.

So far, none of us are very happy with the layout of Kitchen 2. The dishes area seems to be a little cramped, and our work areas are not layed out as well as Kitchen 1. Having said that, K2 is much warmer than the 58 degrees we normally experienced in K1.

Today we made Sweet Dough, Sablee Dough, Chocolate Sweet Dough, and Chocolate Flourless Cake, and the beginnings of our inverted puff pastry. Over the next few days, we'll be making Lemon Tart, Strawberry Rhubarb Tart, and others.