Pastry Today - Assignment Example

Pastry Today Numerous professional organizations hold competitions for pastry chefs and bread bakers each year. Use the internet to research recent bread making and pastry competitions. Discus the winning entries and the people who succeeded in these competitions. The year 2007 was an exciting year for pastry chefs and bread bakers and the industry as a whole. This was highlighted by the numerous international competitions that saw new materials and output marked by ingenuity and continuous innovations in the pastry industry around the world. One of the most notable of these championships is the World Pastry Team Championship held in Phoenix last June to July 1, 2007. As with all previous competitions the 2007 championship, it was by invitation and participated in by 9 country-teams. The 9 teams worked on the common theme, “imagination” and Team France was adjudged the winner while Team Japan placed second. The US national championship event yielded equally interesting crop of pastry chefs and bakers. The three-man Team Branlard bested other teams in the National Pastry Team Championship held last July 17, 2007. Interpreting the “country music” theme, they crafted instruments for their showpiece: a tambourine for the “Entremet Outside” category, musical notes glazing dessert surfaces and figures and curves expressing the movements that characterize country music. For this year, no one expected some form of upset because Chef Laurent Branlard, the captain of the team was a veteran in the competition and was in fact responsible for the US gold medal in the World Team Championship back in 2002. Another prestigious pastry and bread competition is the Coupe du Monde or the World Pastry Cup held annually in Lyons, France. In a way, this competition became a flagship in the industry and its trophy, the most coveted. Matching up to its reputation, this year’s competition was dubbed as one of the most interesting in its 24-year history with the outstanding win by the Japanese Team. In a press statement, the organizers summed it all up: “The World Pastry Cup is a contest of contrasts. An event that brings together pastry chefs from 20 countries… which invariably ends with an extraordinary procession of sweet chefs d’oeuvres.” (Coupe de Monde) Indeed in the competition, a chainsaw was used in order to sculpt an ice block and then there was the tear created out of drawn sugar. The fireworks of the showpieces came with unusual approaches that spectators marveled at the seemingly contest of contrasts. The International Confectionary Art Competition, on the other hand, is one of the most anticipated exhibition and championship in the industry. It will hold its first ever mixed doubles of pastry contest on March 29 – April 2, 2008 where the world’s greatest professionals in pastry and confectionary art are expected to participate. The championship will coincide with the Europain 2008 Exposition in Paris which would also host the Bakery World Cup. The International Confectionary Art Competition will feature an open theme category wherein participants will be given full artistic freedom to express their creativity at an international level. Along with promoting the talents and the industry, the competition is also seeking to stimulate research and ingenuity toward the synergy of Art and Taste. 2) Select one of the following industries: Flour Milling, Sugar Refining, or Dairy and explain how the agricultural products produced by these industries are brought to market. The discovery of the pasteurization method enabled dairy producers to bring milk into the market, fresh and free from previous problems encountered in milk production in the past such as destroying noxious germs that causes early spoilage. Furthermore, new packaging technologies enabled dairy producers to store milk in long periods and, in effect, distribute them in wider area and far reaching market. Particularly, the industry practice of containment allows for a longer dairy shelf life, which made it possible for dairy products, particularly fresh milk to be exported. Here, technology separates the dairy from the environment through what is called as “partitioning”, preventing the contamination of the food material and ensuring the integrity and quality of the dairy product. Due to these innovations dairy products can now reach the market through similar distribution methods employed to deliver most ready-to-eat food products. 3) Contact a local food service supplier to find out what type of egg products are available. Research the popularity of frozen eggs and egg substitutes and why these are becoming so popular. Most local food suppliers offer shell eggs and processed eggs. Both of these types of eggs are pasteurized and sanitized to ensure customers of high-quality and safe eggs. Processed eggs and egg substitutes are further broken down into refrigerated liquid eggs, frozen eggs, dried eggs and other specialty eggs categories. According to the local food suppliers, the popularity of egg substitutes and other specialty frozen eggs is mainly anchored on convenience and nutritive requirements of the consumers. Each of the processed eggs and egg substitutes are modified to suit specific needs. For instance, one of the most popular egg substitutes is that kind which eliminated cholesterol by removing the egg yolk. For people who watch their diet, modified “healthy” eggs is widely preferred. 4) Research the pastry traditions of France. What are their specialties? Are they for certain times of the year? Dont forget to explain about what is available in France for ingredients and why. The basis of the French cuisine is “good ingredients” that is why the pastry tradition of the country is characterized by the acceptance of the variations imposed by the seasons. Here, it is impossible to offer the same pastry and specialty all year round. For instance, sea bass in pastry stuffed with lobster mousse is not designed to be a complex dish: the pastry does not have to be eaten; for it is there to keep in the juices, and the stuffing can be ignored too since its purpose is to keep the fish moist. And so one can see that the distinct character of the French food does not reside on how they use garlic, or snails, or frogs, which are regional specialties but, instead, in the ingenuity and honesty in their food. Without pretense, the French used what is available in the season and their produce and the variety that this creates in the French pastry makes each and every recipe successful. 5) Visit the websites for KING ARTHUR FLOUR and WHITE LILY FOODS and look at the varieties of flours and flavoring ingredients available from each. What is each of these companies famous for? How do the products of these two regional flour manufacturers differ? King Arthur Flour products, as it is being marketed in its website, is famous for its specialized flour and mixes that are identified with satisfying the discriminating standards of professional bakers. This company emphasized quality flours as highlighted by a core philosophy and an educational approach to flour production and use. White Lily Food products on the other hand focus in the convenience of use of its flours. For example, its marketing strategy illustrates for their consumers the end product instead of the basics in baking that King Arthur Flour products underscore. The difference between the two regional flour manufacturers is that one is famous as a material for the enthusiast while the other as a convenient and easy to use ingredient of a busy mother. Read More