This is step 7 in your multi-part online course about
how to become a top chef.
Pastry Chef
A pastry chef needs to know how to create baked
dishes, confections and specialty items. Pastry chefs generally
specialize in deserts.
This is a specialty that requires much creativity and
a great sense of taste for deserts. If you chose to work in a hotel
environment, you will likely have to report to an executive pastry
chef.
To be a good pastry chef you need to be able to manage
people. It really is a must. You also need to be able to coordinate
staffing with production requirements.
You must be in charge of ordering your ingredients as
well. It is a very specific specialization that requires great
business sense. You will also have little room for error in this
specialization as many of your dishes will be lengthy to
prepare.
Saucier
This is just as it appears. This chef specializes in
making sauces, and sometimes meats that are cooked in
sauces.
This type of specialty is actually quite prestigious
among chefs out there. Because sauces are often the basis of French
haute cuisine, the saucier chef is considered a very important person
in the kitchen.
The best trained sauciers know that the five bases of
all sauces rest on the five mother sauces.
These sauces are:
Espagnole (brown sauce): This is made of dark
roux of cooked flour and butter as well as brown stock made from
roasted bones and vegetables.
Velouté: (white sauce) is made of a pale roux
and a light stock.
Béchamel: a basic white sauce that is made from
milk, butter and flour. Sometimes cheese is also added.
Vinaigrette: This is simple oil and vinegar
sauce. Sometimes other ingredients are added, such as garlic,
shallots and herbs.
Hollandaise: a mixture of egg, oil or butter,
and mayonnaise.
Of course, these are just the basics of the training
that a saucier has to know. You must have a great sense of taste to
be a successful saucier, and it helps to be creative in your mixes.
Knowing what sauces would taste best with what foods is a key factor
in being a good saucier.
The saucier is the most important person in the room
for many gourmet dishes. A meal can be prepared to perfection, but if
the sauce is bad, there goes the meal!
To continue to the next section of your chef training,
please click this link: What is a Sous Chef?
