A Pastry Chef, or a “Patisserie” is a chef that is skilled in making and baking a variety of baked goods, pastries, cakes, desserts, cookies, chocolates, candies, pies and breads. Pastry chef is employed in a restaurant, hotel, café, bakery, or even a cruise ship’s kitchen.
Training of Pastry Chefs
A pastry chef generally takes the training from a Pastry chef school or institute, which is a two to four year long program. Their training involves the understanding of various dessert courses, including cheese and wine, coupling alcohol with sweets, like chocolate with port, and poached pears in champagne.
Role of a Pastry Chef
The Pastry chef reports into the Executive Chef of the restaurant or a hotel, and is the head of the pastry station. Pastry chef also helps out his or her subordinates in training. Assistant pastry chef’s usual task is to plate desserts.
Patissiers work with the Chef de cuisine, in planning out the menu for the restaurant; however, they are solely responsible for organizing the dessert menu, testing recipes, and ordering ingredients. Pastry chefs also use seasonal food items in their desserts. It gets important to take the help of other chefs to make the menu interesting for the guests.
Pastry chefs take summer baking classes for food enthusiasts in their communities. After gaining considerable amount of experience, they may become author of cookbooks, start their blog on internet or even upload videos and share their unique dessert recipes.
World's Popular Pastry Chefs
Jacques Torres: Jacques Torres from the New York City, is one of the popular Pastry Chefs in the world. In his career, he has been able to create scrumptious desserts and chocolates and is peculiarly famous for his presentations. There have been times, when the main attraction of the table is Torres’s dessert. Currently, he has his own chocolate factory in Brooklyn, where he is working as a master chocolatier.
Pierre Herme: Born in 1961, Pierre Herme is a French pastry chef, popular for his unique combinations and flavors in macarons. Pierre, started his career as a trainee with the very popular patissier, Gaston lenotre when he was only 14. After 10 years, he became the patisserie at a fine food merchant. He opened a pastry boutique in 1998 with New Otani Hotel in Tokyo, Japan with his own brand name. He opened a flagship store and a chocolate bar in Tokyo. He is the only pastry chef who is bedecked as a Chevalier of Arts and Letters.
Oriol Balaguer: Oriol Balaguer is a world famous chef who was recognized for his restaurant and exceptional baking skills. He is trained from various culinary institutes and wanted to become a chocolate and pastry chef from his childhood. He opened his first confectionery studio in 2002 and since then he has been surprising and making people experience great gastronomic delights.