Once again I’m thrilled to have Chef Jennifer Field, a graduate of Orlando Culinary Academy, write about the life of a baking & pastry chef. I asked Jenni to give my readers a glimpse of what one of her days looks like working as the pastry chef at The Ravenous Pig in Winterpark, Florida. As you will see, her day is busy….really busy.

You’ll also get to see photos from her working day. They show how labor intensive working in a restaurant can be but according to Chef Jenni, it is all worth it.

A Day In the Life of A Pastry Chef - Part 1

My name is Jennifer Field, and I am a working pastry chef. I currently am the pastry sous chef at The Ravenous Pig: An American Gastropub in Winterpark, FL . Many people are intrigued by what it is that chefs do on a daily basis. The Reluctant Gourmet thought it might be interesting, or at least eye opening, to write an hour by hour account of what goes on from the moment I hit the door until the moment I clock out.

I come in early, at 7:00am and our pastry cook, Lucia, comes in at 10:00 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to help with all the prep. We are closed on Saturdays and Sundays, so we run everything out on Saturday nights. As a result, there is always a lot to do on Tuesdays.

Here’s what I’m responsible for at the restaurant.

Aside from making all dessert components and garnishes, I have several other responsibilities that are not generally thought of as the realm of the “dessert lady.” I am responsible for making the spiced caramel popcorn that we give away as a bar snack. I make the gruyere biscuits that we sell for our bread service as well as the bread pretzels and taleggio fondue for the pub menu.

Chef Lucia and I also keep us in mignardise. You know, like the mints you get with your check? We make what we like—peppermint marshmallows, filled chocolates, nut brittles and toffees—whatever sounds good. We need to make sure that there are always enough for all guests to get something when their checks come.

In addition, I make tart dough for quiche and Alsace tarts for garde manger and spicy gazpacho (for Bloody Maries) and sour mix for the bar. Now that you know what I’m in charge of making, welcome to my day…

7:00am:

It’s still dark outside. I hate that. I have my keys ready so I can get in the door as quickly as possible. Lock it behind. Run and turn off that damn alarm before the cops show up. Turn on the lights. Check the bar. They ate all the caramel corn?! Savages. Survey the damage in the walk-in from the night before. Do we need financiers? How are we on croquants? Chocolate sauce? Chocolate paint?

Now the freezer. Oh, no—they ate all the biscuits. Make a double today. Pretzels, too? There goes an hour and 15 minutes right there. Better check all the ice creams. Do we need more base? How about that semifreddo? Is it all gone? Put the frozen brisee for the tarts in the walk-in to temper. Are the servers passing out the mignardise? Do we need to make more of those, too?!

Oh, I hate Tuesdays….

7:20am:

Okay, here we go. Wash your hands. Pop the corn—9 quarts twice, please. While the corn is popping, set the Blodgett oven, turn on the hoods and the gas, light the burners, turn on the other big convection oven. Scale the caramel for the corn. Oh, no spiced pumpkin seeds?! Quick, make those and throw them in the oven so they’re ready to go when the popcorn is popped.

Put the caramel on the induction burner so the butter melts. Scale 2X biscuits. Grate 6 pounds of cheese (thank goodness for the Robot Coupe). Butter’s melted for the caramel; it’s boiling. Set the timer for 5 minutes, turn down the heat and cut the flour into the biscuits. Timer goes off. Wash your hands, and stir the caramel into the corn; don’t forget to add the spiced pumpkin seeds. Put the corn in the oven for 20 minutes.

See Part 2 Here

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Reluctant Gourmet Offers Students a Way into the Kitchen

PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA (April 11, 2008) - With education costs on the rise in almost every field and university across the United States, students are turning to outside sources of funding for everything from tuition to cost-of-living expenses. One of the most difficult places in which to find education funding continues to be the culinary field, where investors are few and students are many.

ReluctantGourmet.com, an online resource dedicated to providing information on culinary schools as well as the hospitality and restaurant trade, recently launched a program to take on financial responsibility for future student success in the culinary world.

This opportunity arose through a partnership with Chefs4Students.org, a nonprofit organization responsible for putting students in contact with the funds they need to attend the culinary schools of their choice. Chefs4Students.org has awarded nearly $75,000 in the form of individual $1,000 grants since its inception in 2003.

The Reluctant Gourmet™ became part of the program this year in an effort to strengthen its ties with the culinary educational system. “Encouraging students to attend culinary school is one thing,” says G. Stephen Jones, the home chef entrepreneur behind the Reluctant Gourmet name. “Helping them to actually do it is another.”

The scholarship from Reluctant Gourmet was one of seven awarded this so far this year. The recipient, Ja’Lisa McKeown, is a student of the International Culinary School of Arts in Michigan. In a trade known for its lack of financial supporters as far as grants and educational opportunities go, this funding is highly sought after and a welcome relief to the increasing costly burden of paying for school.

The Reluctant Gourmet’s $1,000 contribution is only the beginning of a long-term grant program. According to Jones, “Contributing to the culinary dream of students is part of the Reluctant Gourmet vision. We want everyone to have access to great cooking skills, and if this means developing funding to get people to that point, we’re happy to do it.”

Although Reluctant Gourmet is a comprehensive resource providing cooking tips, how-to articles, interviews with chefs, and a collection of recipes, it is the site’s lack of discrimination between amateur and professional cooking that makes it unique. Whether visitors are seeking an introduction to being a cook or perusing their professional culinary career options, one underlying theme remains: learning how to cook good, gourmet food is for everyone.

About the Reluctant Gourmet™

ReluctantGourmet.com is consistently ranked by independent Internet traffic monitor Alexa among the top 40,000 most visited web sites. The Reluctant Gourmet has been featured in numerous lifestyle and food publications including the New York Daily News, NetFood Digest, FastCompany and St. Petersburg Times Online.

Content includes: Techniques, Recipes, Cooking Blog, Community Forum, Culinary Arts School Directory, Chef Interviews, and in-depth Ingredient Articles. The site’s “leading man” is The Reluctant Gourmet, also know as RG, who is featured in humorous cartoons depicting the challenges faced by a stay-at-home dad and aspiring home cook.

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Media Contact:
G. Stephen Jones, Principal
The Reluctant Gourmet™.
Email

Web Address: http://www.reluctantgourmet.com

New Culinary Arts School in the Seattle, WA Area

For those of you thinking of going to culinary school in the Seattle, Washington area, I wanted you to know there is a new culinary arts school to consider by the name of Kitchen Academy.

Kitchen Academy is already a well-established cooking school in Hollywood and Sacramento California and now has a school in the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. The campus is in Tukwila, just 6 short miles south of Seattle where there is an incredible environment for anyone interested in food and cooking.

Nearby you have the Cascade and Olympic Mountains as well as the Puget Sound and San Juan Islands for kayaking and sailing. Did you know that Washington State is now the second largest producer of wine in the United States?

The school offers an Accelerated Training System developed to provide you the skills that you will need to be successful in a professional kitchen. You start off with the basics and steadily learn more advance techniques and aspects of cooking. From day one you will be hands on working with trained professionals so that in just 30 weeks you can have earned a Professional Culinary Arts Diploma and the confidence to enter the restaurant industry.

The two programs available at Kitchen Academy include a Professional Culinary Arts Diploma and a Professional Baking and Pastry Diploma. Both programs boast of small class sizes, experienced instructors with great connections in the industry, financial aide for those who qualify and a six-week externship in a professional kitchen to provide you experience in a real life work situation.

For more information about the new Kitchen Academy in Seattle, please check out Seattle Kitchen Academy on my web site. You will find a link there to contact the school for more information on how to apply and a representative from the school will contact you to answer any questions.

Also, if there are any graduates of Kitchen Academy or current students interested in talking about their experiences, please contact me here.