Customer Reviews

The Making of a Pastry Chef: Recipes and Inspiration from America's Best Pastry Chefs

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a student in culinary school, this gave me a clear understanding of what to expect in the food industry, the differences between a chef & a pastry chef, and what personality profiles fit each position. It was also entertaining to learn the inspirations of today's top pastry chefs. Very similar to "Becoming a Chef", by A. Dournenberg, but from a pastry perspective. I read the entire book in 3 days! Worth every penney.

This book is, as far as I know, unique. It is a valuable resource for those who are thinking about to or just beginning to make baking and pastry a career. I found it a very useful collection of advice and stories about the professional and practical aspects of pastry as a job.

Everyone who is going to culinary school for baking and pastry or who has recently graduated, as well as those in apprenticeships and other types of training, should read this book. To me, it is an indispensable vocational guide. Even those who are going into food and not pastry per se should read this, since cooperation between the savory and sweet kitchen is essential these days in restaurants.

This book is written by the executive pastry chef of the Coyote Cafe, and mostly it contains his opinions and viewpoints. It also has quotes from many famous and successful pastry professionals. Just so you can keep track, the book has brief biographies of the 30 or so professionals who are quoted throughout the text, many of whom you will recognize.

It contains the following chapters: History of Sweets (a mostly worthless re-hash of familiar material); Origins of Inspiration (childhood memories and early career experiences); Foundations of Learning (culinary schools, apprenticeships, and training); Inside the World of the Pastry Chef (what it is like under various conditions); Ingredients of Success (ingredients and menus); Traditions, Trends, Future (thumb-sucking chapter containing thoughts about the future of the pastry chef).

It also contains 4 dozen or so dessert recipes. Sadly, these are modern, new-fangled variations and recipes. They are more interesting for their creativity than as good recipes that you will want as part of your repertoire. As with all trendy recipes, these will be mostly out of date within a couple of years. A few recipes are very good, such as Apple Apple Apple or Buchteln, and there is a handy index of recipes in the beginning, which good since they are randomly scattered throughout the book. Most, however, are interesting for some of the sub-recipes, like tangerine sorbet or pina colada sauce.

My main complaint is about the quotes he uses. The author has a stellar array of great pastry chefs (Emily Luchetti and Nancy Silverton to name just 2), but they are limited to just brief snippets of a few sentences. It would have been more illuminating to have extended quotes from them, so you could get a clear idea of their ideas, attitudes and opinions. As is, the text is mostly the author with a few quotes thrown in here and there, which is not as informative as it could be.

The greatest failing, however, is the idealized picture it presents. It does not warn the prospective professional about long hours, hard work, drudgery, routine, smelly clothes and underwear and hair, tempermental bosses, and low pay. The true satisfaction and delight of the job of pastry chef is also mostly absent.

This book proves that just because you're a good pastry chef, doesn't mean you should write about pastry chefs! The writing is so boring that it reads like a term paper written by someone who couldn't care less. The information on the history of pastry is at times inaccurate (which wouldn't be such a big deal but they should have fact checkers, right?) and even a photo at the beginning of the book was mislabeled, in a way that showed the person thought no one would be able to tell. Other captions should have been left out such as "Pineapple" underneath a photograph of a pineapple. On the other hand, I always love to hear what chefs have to say, and this is no exception. It's filled with recipes, there is a useful table of interesting flavor combinations and lots of good statements from pastry chefs, though much of it is the average deal -- about how important the quality of your ingredients are and whether to make a tower of food or to keep presentation simple -- so, while I personally enjoy this kind of thing, I recommend it with reservations.

I am currently a part-time baking and pastry arts student at Johnson & Wales University. I just finished reading this book for a class and found it a wonderful read and resource. The insight that these pastry chefs offer really make you think about why you are entering the culinary world and if it is right for you. Happily, I believe I have made the right decision. The recipes are wonderful as well, and the flavor guide is sure to be a valuable resource for years to come. If you are currently a student, or are thinking about a career change to the pastry arts, I highly recommend this book.

This book is excellent for anybody who is just starting out in the pastry field. It has really inspired me to continue in pursuing my dream to become a famous pastry chef. It tells how pastry chefs started out and helps you to see that we really do have to start at the bottom before we can get to the top. I was really inspired and felt a lot more motivated after reading this great, fantastic book!

This book is great for people totally unfamiliar with the world of pastry and baking. However, for those of us who have a fairly good idea about what it's like to be a pastry chef and are looking for the nitty gritty, every day details, this isn't the way to go. The writing often reads like a jounrel article; it lacks emotion and depth. But, it has lots of absolutely delicious recipes and some pretty entertaining anecdotes. I wouldn't discourage the passionate dessert maker from buying it.

This book is full of information from the people who have found success in the world of pastry. They tell about what training they received and how helpful it was to their careers, what their day is like, how they come up with new ideas, and what they believe the future of pastry is.

The writing style lacks snap and, occasionally, clarity. The content of the chapter doesn't always exactly match the chapter title. But it is still a good resource for someone who is interested in the pastry business because the chefs that were interviewed for the book really love what they do. Their passion comes through, which I found to be inspiring.

As a recent Culinary School grad, this book was recomended to me by one of my Chef Instructors. "Any monkey can read a recipes and make a dessert, but it takes knowing the flavor profile of each ingredient before you will be able to create."
And, that's what this book does. Yes, it has insights from famous chefs and some nice recipes but the truly valuble information is near the back. Almost every desser ingredient is listed with complementing flavors. This is the book you'll need if you ever want to create your own recipes!
If you are looking for pretty pictures of desserts, or a book filled with recipes this book is not for you. If you want to create... BUY THIS BOOK!

I'm so glad I bought this book. It gives a vivid picture of what this trade is all about, giving you things to think about, and a variety of perspectives from many of the best pastry chefs. I can see where one reviewer is coming from in terms of saying that the book isn't well written and that the title headers don't always match the content below. The text does sometimes steer away from the topic at hand, and there are a lot of quotes right after the other without great transitions. But that doesn't take away from the benefit of this book - it was all info I was interested in reading, and for something like this it doesn't need to be a great work of prose. It is a fast read, and I highly recommend it for anyone considering a career in pastry.

I agree that this book proves that chefs don't always make great writers. It has some terrific spots, but is mostly very dry and dull reading. I only read about 1/3 of the book before skipping around to different sections. Perhaps a real pastry chef in the making would enjoy it more, but it certainly isn't an easy read.