Page 22 - Priorities #47 2010-June/July

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What is the most challenging part of being a pastry chef?
To be able to replicate what you do every day. Anybody can make the perfect apple pie. But the trick is to make the perfect apple pie consistently, every day.
Your favorite dish to make?
Ice cream. We like to do different flavors, different seasonal ice creams and sorbets. Right now we’re doing a cherry brickle, so we’re roasting cherries and add a little candied pecan.
What is the busiest day of the year?
Mother’s Day. You’re trying to crunch in maybe three times the num- ber of people you usually do at brunch. I’ve noticed people on the wait staff and even the kitchen staff saying, “You know what, I’ll work Thanksgiving, I’ll work Christmas Eve and I’ll work Christmas Day, but I will not work Mother’s Day. At all.”
What Priory teachers stand out in your memory?
IwouldgobackinaminuteforPaulTrudelleandFatherMaurus. If I ever see Mr. Trudelle again—I still call him Mr. Trudelle!—I would say, I thank you. It’s only when you leave, when you grow up, do you really realize how truly lucky we were to have the teachers we had. If you weren’t a chef, what might you be doing?
I know myself well enough to know that I couldn’t sit there working on a computer. If I were going to be pursuing biology, which is what Istudied,itwouldprobablybeinalaboratorysetting. Thenagain, if I were in a laboratory right now, I know I would be like, Oh man, I wishIwerecooking. Buteveryday,here,Ineverthink,Oh,IwishI were in a lab.
Diana (Klob) Kincaid, ‘95
first learned to bake from her mother. Now she works in the kitchen at Katrina Rozelle Desserts and Pastries, an upscale bakery in Alamo, CA.
What’s a normal day for you?
I typically work from 3:00 AM to 11:00
AM baking cookies, filling cakes with freshly made mousse, and making cookie doughs and buttercreams. After work, I go home, study or do homework for classes, pick up my
kids from school, and then get dinner ready.
What’s the best part of your job?
I love helping create something that will make someone happy. The look on a bride’s face when she first sees her wedding cake is priceless!
What’s the best thing on the menu?
My favorite seasonal items are the cranberry-walnut tarts and the Pumpkin Sonatas, which are pumpkin spice cakes filled with sugared
pecans and whipped cream, then covered with marzipan to look like a pumpkin. All year round, it’s the Erica cake, which is devil’s food cake with layers of our milk chocolate caramel.
How did Priory prepare you for where you are now?
I currently work in a male-dominated field, and when I went to the Priory, I was in the first class to graduate with girls, so there were only nine of us. Because of the small class sizes, I couldn’t just fade away into the background hoping no one would notice me. I had to have strong, intelligent opinions on whatever subject was being discussed at the time and be willing to back myself up. The Priory helped ready me for this career path by helping me become a stronger female.
Elena Basegio, ‘01, did a three-year apprenticeship in Luzern, Switzerland as a confectioner and Swiss- certified chocolatier and is currently the Pastry Sous Chef at Oracle.
Your greatest culinary triumph?
Completing my apprenticeship in Swit-
zerland. The Swiss don’t give the title of Swiss Chocolatier to an American without making them work hard for it. In order to get my certificate I had to complete eight different ex- ams, all in German, from general education exams in economics and Swiss law to chocolate writing and food science. After that came an eight-hour practical exam where I was required to make fifty different products and was graded on each one individually. I’m proud to say I
beat most of my Swiss classmates and ranked top in the state.
What’s the best thing on the menu?
Tres Leches—at least it’s the one I am always asked to bring to par- ties. It’s a sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk: condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream. It tastes a bit like Captain Crunch cereal to me.
Craziest time of the year?
The week before Christmas! I used to enjoy Christmas before I became a pastry chef. Now I just get anxious when I think of all the Yule Logs and Stollen.
What part did Priory play in your journey?
I spent most of my time socializing with students and teachers as op- posed to studying and doing homework. I got a lot of grief for that, but I gained a lot of people skills that have taken me far. I got a great education at the Priory, even if my report cards never showed it!