Developing and Refining One's Sense of Taste - week 14

It's hard to believe  that it's week 14. Tonight's topic: pastry. This class is the first of two session about pastry.  Chef lectured and demonstrated how to to make pâte à choux a la creme, pâte à choux gougeres, pâte sucree.  The class was asked to make pâte sucree in the kitchen.

The schedule was rearranged slightly so that the guest speaker, Mike Carignan, owner of Pizza Brama had the opportunity to share his knowledge about all things bread and pizza with the class. The class also had an opportunity to create a Neapolitan pizza with Mike,



What I learned

• Pâte choux is puff pastry used  to make e profiteroles, éclairs; it is not to be confused with pâté is a mixture of cooked ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste.
• Pâte a choux  describes the shape of the dough (in the shape of a little cabbage) 
• Panad is the midway point in making a choux 
• Pâte gougeres is a savory puff
• Professional recipes are often scaled by weight, not liquid measure. It's more precise. 
• Egg whites can be frozen
• Creme anglaise is a sauce. Pastry cream is stiffer and meant to be used as a filling\
• Gluten is imperative to make dough stretch (pasta, pizza) or be leavened
• The gluten in flour remains dormant until it comes into contact with moisture
• There are two types of bread : rich and fat

Observations

• It was nice to observe the mutual respect the instructors and Mike had for each other.
• Mike's wood burning pizza stove is on a trailer hitched to his truck. The oven can get as hot as 1000 degrees Fahrenheit
• A chef instructor from an adjacent class showed the class his pizza steel. It's an option for baking pizza and breads at home. 
• Mike is a former CT101 class assistant  - very inspiring!

Self reflection

• The pâte sucree the class made in the  kitchen will be used in upcoming class to make fruit tarts
• I brought in homemade sausage  links and sausage o patties for Marl. Unfortunately he was absent . The insulated bag I filled with ice began to leak- the sausage and patties were donated to the assistants before I left. 
• My  pâte gougeres were a disaster. While Marl's presence was missed-  I know for certain he would've given me a very hard time about the "item" I created. Chef believed I added too much Gruyere cheese. 
• I worked with Mike to create a mushroom pizza. Handmade pizza making definitely requires manual dexterity.
• Pizza Brama opens in May. I've asked Mike if he would grant me an interview on  behalf of Technicolor dining. I'm asking the dining gods to intervene on my behalf!

Tonight: pasta

Be well, 

Technicolor girl