Served at Sooke Harbour house April 2004.

Served at Sooke Harbour house March 24 2004.

I am a big fan of Michel Bras, and took a pilgrimage to his restaurant Laguiole in France several summers ago, inspired and excited by the ‘cuisine of well-being’, his passionate commitment to fresh and local seasonal ingredients.  Of course that means I love this book, it is very personal to me – I just melt.  Reading it I am almost transported to the Auvergne, thrilled by his love of food.  The intimacy of his notes make the book special, even romantic; he talks about his memory of why he loves specific foods, his connection with local ingredients and farmers, how the shape of a leaf or smell of a flower will influence his creative nature, contributing to one of his unique and graceful dishes.

Of course, I am a pastry chef, and his musings are far more interesting to me than possibly to the casual reader, and will definitely be a bit too experimental for most cooks.   Such extreme-french concepts as pastry dough made with duck fat, or french seminola pudding, are at best an acquired taste for most of us!  Michel has the courage and passion to bring these to the table, and discuss his choices clearly with good humor and style.

This is not a book I use, however; it is more a pleasurable read with interesting ideas than it is useful. Cooks wanting some new ideas for their kitchen should probably skip this one, while readers with a taste for the adventurous and the cutting-edge should pick it up.

‘The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef’ is a reference book – an advanced pastry textbook – and as such is a very handy book to have in your kitchen. It provides a wealth of quality information and a wide range of basic techniques with very practical applications, especially for a beginner without formal training in culinary arts. I have bought this book as a gift for friends who are just starting to cook.

It is a mini-encyclopedia of pastry, covering a wide array of topics: decorated cakes, frozen and plated desserts, weight and measurement conversions, how to temper chocolate, trace drawings for decorations, step-by-step tutorials, even contract templates and wedding cake techniques. And that is only scratching the surface.

The recipes all work, but they are not to my personal taste, as they are a bit old-fashioned. Quite often I will refer to this book as a reference, as a starting point, and I will adapt the recipe for my own use.

Every cook should have a book like this on their shelf, as it is very useful – I could go back to it a hundred times and always find something new, as it covers such a wide range of material. While it is not particularly inspirational, it has lots of value, especially to newer cooks, and as such is recommendable.

This book is a passionate work by a skilled and imaginative chef, Frederic Bau.  He is an expansive writer – he goes through every ingredient and how it is useful, explains how to look for the best quality, what to look for in the product, components, qualities and so on.  He also expounds on important foundation recipe techniques, such as neutral glaze; and chapters such as ‘The Inner Architecture of A Cake’ combine the philosophical and the practical in a highly personalized style.  The photography is top-notch, gorgeous and enticing.

I use this book often – it was a real breakthrough for me, revealing pastry in a totally new light, and encouraging me to take my craft to a higher level.

The chocolate recipes are really excellent; as a matter of fact, this is probably the best book I have ever read about chocolates.  Bau reveals many behind-the-scenes ‘secrets’ of his art, and goes into details on such topics why you use inverted sugar, how to temper chocolate, or how to prevent crystalization or mould from ruining your work.  Very, very useful information.

The section on plated desserts is highly innovative, and experimental – for example, red pepper compote with almond icecream!  He takes french classics and adds new delicious twists, like saffron with chocolate.  Every recipe I have tried has worked very well.

One warning, though – this book is highly technical, and not suited for a novice. Bau does not have any patience for step-by-step description, and can be vague when he feels the reader should already know enough about pastry technique to fill in the blanks.  He rarely tells you baking temperature, and when he does it is in centigrade;  all weights and measures are metric, and Bau doesn’t bother telling you what quantities a recipe will create,  and skips over other details, the lack of which may frustrate and confound a home baker.

This was the first book written by Bau, who has become an acclaimed chocolatier and patissier.  It seems to be out of print right now, although there are a few used copies on Amazon for around $200, and you may be able to find it in specialty bookstores.  If you are a novice, you probably won’t benefit from investing in this book; but if you have a solid background in pastry this book is a must-read – highly recommended – and worth every penny.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Friday September 26 2003.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Friday October 3 2003.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Saturday October 4 2003.

Served at Sooke Harbour house Thursday April 8 2004.

Served at Sooke Harbour house, fall 2003.