National Culinary Review

Barry Callebaut

BARRY CALLEBAUT CHOCOLATE ACADEMY Chicago www.chocolate-academy.com Duration/Cost: 3 days/$800

Barry Callebaut Chocolate Academy offers intense practical and theoretical courses on chocolate molding, enrobing and sculpting, decorating and flavoring. Under Jerome Landrieu’s direction, pastry chefs, both well-established and relatively new to the field, have the opportunity to learn in a “dream kitchen” environment, fully stocked and state-of-the-art.

THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA (CIA) Hyde Park, N.Y.; San Antonio; St. Helena, Calif. www.ciaprochef.com Duration/Cost: 2-4 half-days/$500-$945

PreGel America

The CIA offers a roster of classes on subjects ranging from professional development for educators to chocolates and confections and modern plated-dessert techniques.

Acclaimed pastry chef Stephane Treand demonstrates for a class in PreGel Training Center’s 5-Star Pastry series.

“We should always keep in mind that our daily creations are not meant to impress other chefs, but are meant to satisfy the end consumer, the customer,” Landrieu says. “In my opinion, practitioners in the field need to focus on preserving the original flavors of ingredients and to craft creations that are simple, accessible and understandable for the end consumer.

FELCHLIN/SWISS CHALET
FINE FOODS
Various venues
www.scff.com
Duration/Cost: 2 days/$400

THE FRENCH PASTRY SCHOOL
Chicago
www.frenchpastryschool.com
Duration/Cost: 3-4 days/$525-$1,200

A broad program of continuing education offerings is available at The French Pastry School. “Participants in our programs get the benefit of working with world-champion pastry chefs, such as Pierre Zimmermann, a fourth-generation baker from Alsace, France, who tells it like it is,” says school founder Jacquy Pfeiffer.

“We don't pretend to reinvent chocolate
bonbons. Instead, we want to make sure
people know what they’re tasting, and,
more importantly, what the process was to
create this bonbon, all the while, of course,
maintaining consistency in processes,
a high level of quality ingredients and
reliably reproducible technique.”
Jam-packed classes are offered at a
changing roster of venues by Swiss
company Felchlin’s corporate pastry chef
Anil Rohira. His “Chocolate Passion” class
focuses on molded pralines, ganaches,
entremets, petits gateaux, macaroons and
small chocolate centerpiece amenities.

Opposite: Master sugar artist Ewald Notter presents classes on a wide variety of subjects that feature hands-on production with a low student-to-teacher ratio.

Under the aegis of Swiss Chalet Fine Foods, guest chefs, including Stéphane Glacier, who was awarded the 2000 Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, share their knowledge. Recently offered by Glacier was a trend-driven class on “Tartes, Gouters and Entremets,” which introduced students to a universe of ideas and techniques suited to dessert buffets.

“We’re not shy at telling students that the world of pastry and confection-making is hard work, not like what is depicted on food shows on TV,” Pfeiffer says. “It’s a noble profession, and in a small class—in many cases devoted to a specific, narrowly focused subject— students get to experience that intensity. Participants in the class, many of whom come from prestigious hotel properties, can become more of an expert in one area and bring that expertise back to their job sites.”