Tina Whelski

Quit Loafing Around

suzanne.zuppello — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:07:56 +0000

Quit Loafing Around suzanne.zuppello Thu, 04/12/2018 - 10:07 Master the Craft of Artisanal Bread with Chef Sim Cass April 3, 2018

By Tina Whelski

Anything worth having is worth waiting for, and that’s especially true with bread. “Bread baking, especially when using wild yeast, is a faith-based enterprise,” says Chef Sim Cass, dean of bread baking at the Ģ��Ƶ. “You need to believe that the bread will rise. Then you have to have the patience required to get your perfect loaf.”

A patient mindset is just one thing students will learn during Chef Sim’s 200-hour Techniques of Artisan Bread Baking course at ICE.

As the founding baker of Balthazar Bakery, London-born Chef Sim helped introduce New Yorkers to naturally fermented, European-style breads, earning him the nickname “the Prince of Darkness” for his deeply toasted, crusty loaves.

“The holy grail of bread baking is to make bread with natural yeast,” says Chef Sim. “This dates back thousands and thousands of years. It’s basically using natural yeast that we get out of the air and growing a starter or a natural ferment to make our bread. That’s the base when you make sourdoughs and your nice rye breads. Ģ��Ƶ half of the breads at Balthazar and Bread Ahead in London [where Chef Sim recently worked] are made with natural ferments. It’s the oldest way, but it is now the way of the best bakeries in the world. We’re all baking with natural ferment.”

Working with natural yeast, however, makes some aspiring bakers nervous.

“People are very intimidated by bread for some reason,” says Cass. “They tend to overthink it. It is difficult because it’s a series of methods to obtain one end product. It’s not like cooking. You have to make it over several days. It’s a series of small actions that end up having a good result.”

“Different places have a hard time getting certain flours, so that’s all that changes,” says Chef Sim. “If you work with bakers in Japan or bakers in Australia or bakers anywhere, they’re all of the same head, which is cool.”

The mistakes people make are also universal.

“The most common mistake that I see is people tend to make bread too warm,” says Chef Sim. “Use cold water. You need to keep the temperature of the dough cool because then it is much more manageable and the bread takes longer to make. More time equals more flavor. I’d say the other big one is you need to develop gluten. The dough must have structure. You really must knead the dough until you have good gluten development.”

Chef Sim’s favorite bread of all time is still Balthazar’s signature Pain de Seigle. He also loves a good levain.

“I like things very simple,” says Chef Sim. “I would be very happy if you gave me a fantastic baguette with some salted butter and ham and cheese or just butter and jam. As time goes by, you find that you want less and less.”

One lesson that Chef Sim has learned from baking bread is “you get a chance to rewrite history every day.” His aim with Techniques of Artisan Bread Baking is to equip students with a broad set of skills, such as shaping (through repetition), understanding proof times, working with dodgy ovens and more, so they can make the right decisions at the right time and maybe even form their own philosophies. Above all Chef Sim wants to teach student the value of being patient.

“Don’t rush,” says Cass. “It’s the rushing that messes everybody up.”

Want to bake bread with Chef Sim (and patience)? Learn more about ICE's Artisan Bread Baking program.

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Learn to Build Breathtaking Sugar Showpieces

ohoadmin — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 11:30:25 +0000

Learn to Build Breathtaking Sugar Showpieces ohoadmin Wed, 08/09/2017 - 07:30 Master Pastry Chef Stéphane Tréand, M.O.F Shows You How August 9, 2017

By Tina Whelski

In today’s highly visual world, pastry chefs can stand out with unique sugar sculptures. “I notice that people remember me more for my airbrush than my cake,” says Master Pastry Chef Stéphane Tréand, M.O.F. with a laugh. The recipient of the prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France, (M.O.F.), which means “best craftsman in France,” can’t wait to share his techniques with students who attend his Sugar Showpieces workshop this September 23-25 at ICE.

Tréand believes that anyone can create their own work of art if they put in the time. “Sugar work is not only for chefs, says Tréand. “It's for everybody. Hopefully I can fill up the class with artistic amateurs.” Students will learn airbrushing, casting, pulled ribbon, pulled sugar flowers and much more.

photo courtesy of thepastryschool.org

Tréand advises beginners to use silicon molds, work with isomalt, wear plastic gloves and use lots of stencils when airbrushing. He’s also noticed a trend in the United States to build showpieces that can stand as tall as seven feet high, but he suggests that newcomers start slow with mini showpieces. And as with any craft, attitude is everything.

“My philosophy is never give up, share and always want to learn,” says Tréand. “You have to be curious. You can always improve the way you’re doing pastry. Believe me, I’m still learning.” Tréand discovered sugar showpieces in the 1970s when he saw another chef construct a Singer sewing machine made entirely of sugar. “I was very impressed by how the cast iron was made of sugar,” said Tréand. “I was like, ‘Wow, how can you do that with sugar?’ I remember thinking that if I do something theatrical, like a showpiece, people will remember that, because it's visual.”

Since most showpieces in the mid-80s were replicas of existing objects, like the Eiffel Tower, Tréand focused on more abstract shapes to distinguish himself. Today, Tréand finds inspiration for designs everywhere. “Driving on the freeway sometimes you see a structure and say, ‘Well, that's a nice bridge’ and of course the background we have in France is of beautiful churches or art from the last few centuries mixed with European art deco,” says Tréand.

“There are many things that we mix. Some chefs even find inspiration in tribal tattoos.” Tréand warns that sugar sculptures should not get “too weird” though. “People like to recognize what it is,” says Tréand. “You always need to be careful and do something that people can find themselves in.”

He’s practiced his own advice to great success. Tréand was named one of Dessert Professional’s Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, he coached the bronze-winning USA team (which consisted of three of his former assistants) at the International Pastry Competition in Tokyo. Currently, he’s the executive chef consultant for Occitanial, a pastry shop in Tokyo, and he runs his own school in California, Art of Pastry Academy.

The greatest moment of Tréand’s career, however, remains the day he earned his M.O.F., the highest title anyone can get in an artisan manual trade in France. “That’s my first moment of pride in my whole life,” says Tréand. ”I got it after three tries. My first final was in 1997. I failed. I failed again in 2000 and finally I got it in 2004. When you get it on the third time, it's even more important because you know the value of it. Finally you’ve got it, and you know you’ve got it forever.”

Tréand finds that his students feel their own sense of pride when they complete their first showpieces. “When they do something and realize, ‘Oh my goodness, I did that with my fingers and it's pretty nice,’ they feel proud,” says Tréand. “They feel happy and that's all we need, just feeling happy.” Tréand is grateful he discovered the artistic side of pastry because it gives him the chance to do something new every day. “I think it’s fun,” says Tréand. “It’s freedom. It’s creation.”

Space is limited — click here to register today for Chef Tréand's Sugar Showpieces workshop at ICE.

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Bread That’s Worth the Wait

ohoadmin — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 12:30:08 +0000

Bread That’s Worth the Wait ohoadmin Fri, 06/16/2017 - 08:30 Master the Science and Craft of Artisanal Bread With Chef Sim Cass June 16, 2017

By Tina Whelski

Anything worth having is worth waiting for, and that’s especially true with bread. “Bread baking, especially when using wild yeast, is a faith-based enterprise,” says Chef Sim Cass, dean of bread baking at the Ģ��Ƶ (ICE). “You need to believe that the bread will rise. Then you have to have the patience required to get your perfect loaf.”

A patient mindset is just one thing students will learn during Chef Sim’s 200-hour Techniques of Artisan Bread Baking course at ICE. As the founding baker of Balthazar Bakery, London-born Chef Sim helped introduce New Yorkers to naturally fermented, European-style breads, earning him the nickname “the Prince of Darkness” for his deeply toasted, crusty loaves.

Ģ��Ƶ half of the breads at Balthazar and Bread Ahead in London [where Chef Sim recently worked] are made with natural ferments. It's the oldest way, but it is now the way of the best bakeries in the world. We're all baking with natural ferment.” Working with natural yeast, however, makes some aspiring bakers nervous.

“People are very intimidated by bread for some reason,” says Cass. “They tend to overthink it. It is difficult because it's a series of methods to obtain one end product. It’s not like cooking. You have to make it over several days. It's a series of small actions that end up having a good result.”

During his career working in restaurants and bakeries around the world, Chef Sim has come to realize that the relationship between bread and people is really the same everywhere. The only difference is the flour. “Different places have a hard time getting certain flours, so that's all that changes,” says Chef Sim. “If you work with bakers in Japan or bakers in Australia or bakers anywhere, they’re all of the same head, which is cool.”

The mistakes people make are also universal. “The most common mistake that I see is people tend to make bread too warm,” says Chef Sim. “Use cold water. You need to keep the temperature of the dough cool because then it is much more manageable and the bread takes longer to make. More time equals more flavor. I’d say the other big one is you need to develop gluten. The dough must have structure. You really must knead the dough until you have good gluten development.”

Chef Sim’s favorite bread of all time is still Balthazar’s signature Pain de Seigle. He also loves a good levain. “I like things very simple,” says Chef Sim. “I would be very happy if you gave me a fantastic baguette with some salted butter and ham and cheese or just butter and jam. As time goes by, you find that you want less and less.”

Want to learn bread baking with Chef Sim? Click here for more information on ICE’s Techniques of Artisan Bread Baking program.

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