Unexpected inspiration

Despite having a typical bedtime of around 10 o'clock, I was kept awake several nights ago when the movie Babette's Feast began. This 1987 Danish film was captivating, although for the first 60 minutes, there is very little food or feasting to be seen. Instead, the majority of the film centres around two sisters, Martine and Phillipa, who are part of a strict Protestant village in remote Jutland. There is a great deal of praying and hymn singing. The focus on food and the sensuality of flavour brought by Babette, a French woman who seeks refuge in this rural community, serves as a stark contrast to this very austere setting. Without giving too much of the plot away, she is able to find solace and personal fulfillment in the preparation of a lavish dinner, celebrating her role as artist through the medium of food. Her culinary artistry, expressed so powerfully under such unfortunate personal circumstances, is even more inspiring and ignites long forgotten passions in Martine and Phillipa.

After watching Babette's Feast, it is difficult not to become empassioned about how food can be art. It is this creative drive that atrophied in me somewhere between high school and fellowship but hopefully, it has regenerated into something bigger and better.

Sesame seeds and cannelés

With two weeks of true pastry employment under my belt (or apron), I am happy to be back at Ganache. The environment is familiar and friendly and the work is challenging. Receiving a genuine paycheck again has been satisfying; however, the reality is that food industry wages are, in general, meagre. Even at the Pan Pacific, Chef Ted facetiously said after learning about my job offer at Ganache, "the pay here is peanuts, Ganache must be sesame seeds". Obviously, financial gain is not my primary objective, otherwise high-volume cataract surgery would be my calling, not pastry! It is pyschologically gratifying to be paid to do something that I love and of which I am proud.


Meanwhile, besides macarons, I have also been making cannelés de Bordeaux at home which are Eric's favourites. Traditionally made in beeswax lined copper molds, these fluted caramelized cakes are ideally eaten on the day they are baked in order to savour their crunchy exterior before entering their soft custardy vanilla and rum centres. The origin of the cannelé is filled with mystique; nuns from the convent of Annonciades in Bordeaux or perhaps, an artisan guild of "canauliers" may be credited with its creation. Regardless, they are very addictive and very easy to make using the silicone molds which I purchased in France.

Bearing gifts or children

For anyone counting, this is the fourth photo of macarons that I have posted on my blog since its inception seven months ago, a reflection of how enormously I love them. The key difference between these and previous macarons, however, is that these little beauties are homemade by yours truly. This recipe is from Alain Ducasse's Grand Livre de Cuisine: Desserts & Pastries and despite not having a convection oven at home, they turned out exquisitely. One of my last assignments at the Pan Pacific was to make macarons and because of my surprising success in producing macarons beyond everyone's expectations, I was requested to make almost 700 for several functions.

These macarons are filled with a chocolate-passionfruit ganache, customized for my friend Ramona who just gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Friday. It is my theory that the passionfruit bubble tea which she consumed earlier provoked the subsequent labour and delivery. Combined with the undeniable fact that she is one of the biggest chocoholics who I know, these macarons are a perfect sweet treat for her.

A long journey for all

This unusual looking, yet beautiful, fruit is the mangosteen, also known as the "queen of fruit". For those unfamiliar with this exotic nugget of deliciousness, the mangosteen originates from Southeast Asia and has a rich history involving its discovery and introduction to the Western world in the 18th and 19th centuries. With a tough deep purple rind and luscious creamy white segmented interior, the mangosteen's flavour is somewhat difficult to describe. To my tastebuds, the flavour combines strawberry with nectarine but also pineapple and perhaps even kiwifruit. You will just have to try it for yourself and luckily they are currently abundant. We saw many in Chinatown and bought some at T & T Supermarket.

Although the mangosteens which I bought did travel many miles in order to end up in my kitchen, lately I have been more conscious about where my food is grown. Eating local not only benefits the environment, but also it helps support the local agricultural economy. I have been gorging on red Okanagan cherries from the Riley Park Farmer's Market and am eagerly awaiting the start of blueberry season. Nothing beats a big bowl of fresh blueberries topped with vanilla yogurt!

Monday is my very last day at the Pan Pacific and I am happy to finally cease being a student. Thankfully, I will be returning to Ganache Pâtisserie as a part-time employee which is ideal for me because my other part-time job these days is still helping my mom rehabilitate after her leg injury. It has been a long journey in search of professional happiness and I finally feel that, despite the enormous toll on my spirit and confidence taken during my departure from Ophthalmology, the outcome is positive, hopeful, and in sight.

Nougat love

My assignment this week was nougat de Montélimar, a favourite sweet treat from childhood but more recently, from both pastry school and our trip to France. This traditional Provençal confection is full of almond and pistachio nuts, cemented together with very dense Italian meringue cooked with sugar and lavender honey. Different dried fruits or citrus peel can be added for variety. When set, the nougat can be cut into small pieces or long slabs to enjoy; to prevent drying out, it should be wrapped tightly or enrobed partially in chocolate.


My sister and I have vague recollections of how my mom would give us small silver-foil wrapped cubes of white nougat when we were young. During pastry school, my love of nougat was reawakened! As a result, our recent trip to France included a mandatory pilgrimage to Montélimar, the birthplace of nougat, where we spent a few short hours browsing the countless nougat shops before catching the train to Lyon. Interestingly, nougat de Montélimar must officially contain either 30% almond or 28% almond and 2% pistachio, and honey must be 25% of the sugar content. My recipe from pastry school produces a fairly chewy nougat, whereas in Montélimar, both "tendre" and "dur" were available.

Breaking a sweat

The first time I had table-side Crêpe Suzette was in a fine dining French restaurant within the Cleveland Clinic campus in Cleveland, Ohio during a fellowship interview lunch. Almost four years later, my accomplishments now include making over 360 crêpes in less than three hours.

I have never been keen on culinary endeavors and toiling in front of a hot stove; however, I now understand the fun and, dare I say, rush, of having multiple pans quickly flying over the flames while doing the proverbial culinary "dance". With two crêpe pans cooking side by side and no tool except for my fingers for flipping, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the exciting, albeit sweaty, experience in front of the stove. By carefully controlling the intensity of the flame, the speed of crêpe production is determined as both pans are used simultaneously and without interruption while being careful not to let either crêpe become too brown. Of course, the expected turnover time for about 400 crêpes by an experienced pastry cook is two hours but I was slower!

Fruits of my labour

I never thought that some of the most important lessons I would learn from my Pan Pacific practicum would be about fruit. The pastry kitchen uses case after case of fresh fruit every day, for tarts or flans, decorations on plated desserts, cakes, platters, and smoothies for example. Cutting fruit is not difficult per se; however, cutting fruit fast and properly is the goal. My knife skills have improved vastly during my practicum and Chef Ted has imparted on me a greater respect for the natural beauty of fresh fruit.

Halving and quartering strawberries with only a paring knife in my hands (without a cutting surface) is now routine and fast for me. Dismantling a pineapple is now an easy 20 second task. Considering the ultimate destination and time to consumption of the fruit is also important. For instance, if your 150 strawberry halves are destined to stand erect on a plated dessert, the green stem needs to be cut flat across; however, if your strawberry half is for a fruit kabob, it is more important to conserve as much fruit on your strawberry, so make a smaller V-cut to remove the stem. When producing fruit flans, the thickness of your melon or pineapple slices must be not too thin because they will dry out before they are glazed and served hours later. But if too thick, the flan is not as aesthetically pleasing. Even minor things like, should a cut strawberry neighbour a cube of pineapple on a bamboo skewer for a fruit kabob, must be considered. The answer is no because the pineapple will soon be stained pink.

There are numerous "pearls" of knowledge that I am lucky to have learned and will hopefully retain as I continue in my new career. Undoubtedly, there is such depth and breadth of pastry knowledge in the Pan Pacific of which I have only caught a glimpse during the past several months. I hope that the education will continue as my professional life expands beyond my practicum days.