RECIPES
Pastry Fever
Chocolate Mousse Cake with Double Chocolate
Ganache Center
Having a pastry shop is a tough task. If you've seen the movie Chocolat in 2001, starring Catherine Benoche, the difficulty of her task in establishing her chocolate shop is the same as running a pastry establishment.
Being a pastry lover, I get depressed when I see one that's badly made.
Anyway, here are my tips in making fabulous pastries at home or in your business.
MOUSSES
This creamy delight is heavenly especially if done correctly. In preparing a mousse, consider that the "sabayon," a combination of heated milk and egg yolks, should be cold. Whipped creams should be whipped until it has tripled in volume. The more air you capture, the lighter the mousse. In folding whipped cream, don't deflate the air. The gelatin or stabilizing agent should be at the minimum because too much makes a lousy mousse. It ruins the texture and delicateness.
CHOCOLATE CAKE.
Use Dutch processed cocoa powder for chocolate cake so that it will have a deep red color. Its alkaline reacts with the baking soda, producing a dark brown color. Underbaking your cake for 5 minutes produces one that is moist and delectable.
BAVARIAN CREAMS
Chocolate Wafer with Raspberry Mousse and
Strawberry Coulis
The key in producing this thickened cream is to use fresh eggs and fresh cows milk. Now that the Philippines is producing vanilla bean pods, this is also a great ingredient that any pastry chef should have. The aromatic scent of vanilla is incomparable to imitations.
CHOCOLATE GANACHE, BROWNIES & COOKIES
The quality of chocolate is crucial to any chocolate creation. Unfortunately we do not produce quality chocolates. For the imported ones, good choices are Callebaut, Valrhona, Belcolade and Felchlin. These are all European made. We also have the Malaysian-made Tulip which is not far behind.
USING NUTS
Get the most out of the flavor of the nuts. Thus, it's best to roast the nuts before using because the oils will come out and will blend with the pastry.
Raw nuts will turn your baked items rancid.
BUTTER
Circular Meringues with a Raspberry Chocolate
Mousse Center.
There's no compromise in using butter. The higher the buttermilk content, the better tasting it is. Good brands are Anchor, Magnolia and Elle & Vire.
SCIENCE
Baking is an exact science, thus, one has to follow the measurement stated on the recipe to produce a good product.
Miscalculations could ruin everything.
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In this column, I'll start a restaurant review. But in fairness to the restaurant, I won't name it; it's up to you to discover.
This native restaurant is located along the road going to a big department store. It offers Southern Visayan Cuisine.
On one occasion that I dined there, I discovered that their stock was flavorful and the meat was tender. The bones still have marrows that are divine with rice.
Their specialty is the "kansi" or beef shanks, so they need to be authentic.
Then, the next time I ate there, the meat wasn't tender. The broth tasted like water. I was saddened with this.
I suggest that they boil their meat in woodfire so that it will have a smokey flavor. Whenever one boils meat, it is best to boil it for the first time and discard the water to remove the scum and blood. Then, replace it with fresh water. Boil it again and lower the heat to simmer. They have to add some aromatics like peppercorn, bay leaf, carrots, onions, leeks and celery; this is what you call a basic mirepoix and bouquet garni. The flavors that will come from the herbs and vegetables will give depth to the beef shanks. The longer the simmering process, the more flavorful the beef will be.
Separate the beef from the stock and strain so that the spices will not be present. Blanch the vegetable sidings like cabbage and corn with the use of the stock. For every order, put the beef shanks, vegetable sidings and boiling stock. A secret that I learned from my travels is adding a little evaporated milk to liven up the broth. They may try this procedure and taste the difference.
In operating a restaurant, one need not have lots of product offerings. You need a spectacular product that people will always visit and try.
I hope that my restaurant review would be taken as a positive critique. There's always a room for improvement in the culinary trade.
Until next time. Ciao!