Why Baking ? Events that shaped my views 0

Although I didn't wait that long - I too witnessed myself at a crossroads. I had been working in the medical field - as a biomedical tech./phlebotomist/Medical assistant. 5 years total.

Before that though, I had gotten culinary training & a chef certificate. I knew that I wanted to lean toward bakery. I interviewed and scored an internship at an upscale bakery downtown.

There I learned the Art of cake assembly & decorating of 12 different fine European style torts & gateaus [6 inch rounds (6 inch tall) 8 inch, 1/4, 1/2, full sheets]; bombs [layers of génoise chocolate sponge, cappuccino mouse, formed & then poured with chocolate ganache finished with a shell border & chocolate curl] cappuccino tarts [shortbread tart shells with a chocolate layer, filled with espresso ganache, then topped with chocolate ganache & finished with chocolate adornments]; Fresh fruit tarts[shortbread tart shell, melted chocolate @ bottom, sweet cream cheese, all types of fruits cut & arranged across the face of the tart, then covered with apricot glaze]; éclairs; gourmet cookies; tartlets; Bouche De Noël [with meringue mushrooms] ;Lemon meringue tarts; Cheese cakes; etc.

After I graduated from my culinary training I eventually was hired on, and they hired me also to fill their retail orders for Mondays. So I would come in on Sundays and basically have the cake room to myself. I would get All the products ready & racked to be transported to the 4 retail stores they had. It would take me 4-5 hours.

On one of these following Sundays, I noticed that the cake room had been stacked from floor to ceiling {every bench, every cranny was filled] with bistro chairs & tables from the retail area of the bakery. But when I entered the bakery that's what really stressed me. They had been stripping the wood floors and re-applying chemicals to varnish the floors. There were very little walls in the space - so all these fumes were drifting into all corners of the building.

The fumes were so bad I had trouble focusing. My then boyfriend was in the contracting trade, & he had made comments about the safety of working around those fumes- -- not to mention the products safety. I also am extremely sensitive to fumes.

I went upstairs to the Owner's office & repeated verbatim , what my then boyfriend had said.

The owner snickered & told his male 'companion' ,

"Show Amber to A table"

We walked down the stairs. He led me to the cake room & pointed to a small marble topped bistro table, the only one without chairs or tables stacked on it.

Well I finished my duties -- yeah it took me 8 hours instead of the typical 4. My mind was meandering , and the fumes were not dissipating (no windows/ air) . After I left, I resolved not to go back there again. I figured if the owner didn't care about me or the product -- why work there?

But part of me has been holding on to that since. I felt conflicted. That was the only job I have ever walked away from. I loved what I would do each day.

My friend Joanne had told me:

"You ARE SO lucky! That is my dream job!"

Then part of me wonders if said boyfriend was devious enouph to make me think I should quit? He had been guilty of other far worse things, which came to light later on. He knew that I loved that job. But then again that is really ridiculous.

My second week of school I asked my Baking instructor if I could speak to him. I sat down and told him the whole story. I had to hold back tears. My voice wavered with all the pain and self conflict I had been holding so near to my heart. I asked him if fumes like that were a bad thing.

He replied,"

"That it depends on the products you had been working with. If it was buttercreams or pastry creams --- anything of that nature, the fumes would be absorbed...."

The more that I told him, the better I felt. He told me to let it go. So I am not as apprehensive as I was the first few days of being in the bakery environment again.

When I look back , or when people ask me "Why Baking?". I think the true turning point was maternity leave, after the birth of my first child. Then I decided to go part time, as my job was really demanding & stressful. There were no set hours & overtime was happening quite frequently. Once I did that , only working 1-2 days a week instead of 50+ hours. I was able to really do some soul searching. I realized what I really wanted in life.

Link: Bread Snobbery? Arrogant Baker? You be the judge! 0

"I love to make bread too, but I make the bread, I do not delegate that very
pleasant, calming, almost therapeutic task to a machine. Bread machines were
devised by the Japanese, a culture that has no historic connection to real
bread.

Real bread, of course, is made by hand--it is "artisinal" in the
best sense of that word. Bread making becomes a craft, one works the dough with
one's hands--and arms, and shoulders. You punch the dough, massage it, roll it
under your palms. You look in after it, as it quietly sits and rises. You work
your life and the life of the bread together, so you can be there when it needs
you, to punch it down, to shape it, to bake it.
I have never eaten bread
made from a bread machine. I do not want to. Bread is too closely connected to
the daily life of humans to let a machine do it, and do such a poor job of
it--of bread making--at that.
Do yourself a favor. Make bread by hand. Touch
the dough. Make it live for you. Just throwing flour and yeast and water into a
machine and then eating the results is more than I can stand to contemplate." -- Ron

This comment was left on The food blog : On her first entry in Culinary Epiphanies . She then actually publishes an entry devoted to the comment here , and readers also comment. I myself reacted to this comment. There are too many arrogant bastards in the world.

If you come upon this entry while searching for Arrogant Bastard Ale - you'll find the official website here.

Here is how I responded:

Posted by Amber @ 02/14/2005 02:30 PM PST
Ron's example of "baking snobbery"
is ridiculous. I don't agree with his "breadophile" logic.

I am a
student learning pastry/baking. I have had past experiences in the baking &
culinary industry.

I would like to state a few points:

First ,
most people who purchase "artisan" breads - can't tell infant if it was indeed
frozen bake-off, meaning the bakery /grocery bought the dough from a factory
that was made & pre formed-- gasp -- by automated machines. And the
bakery/grocer proofed & baked it.

Less than 50% of bakeries are
"scratch" - using all their own formulas, scaling by hand etc.

With that
being said what really is baking? Is it the thought and time - whether automated
or not- that goes into creating something? Is it Being able to control the
ingredients that go into your product?

Who is the better person -
someone who enjoys the end product, or someone who is casting stones at those
who can evolve with technology or modern equipment.

I have made bread by
hand, & tasted bread machine bread. And guess what ? The chemical reactions
& fermentation stay the same. The end result, is bread. The fact that home
bread baking in any form, continues to exist is really great.

IF Ron
wants to go after someone - go after the giant corporations - adding chemicals
to their product - like Potassium Bromate[which has banned internationally
except for the U.S, & that is carcinogenic(causes cancer).

--- Amber
(culinary novice)

Hazardous Bread ? The Inquirer strikes again.... 1

Half-Baked:
Hazardous Bread
© 1 9 9 7 - 2 0 0 0 . H E L L F I R E . C O M . A l l . r i g h t s . r e s e r v e d .

by Bryan Johnson

A recent Cincinnati Enquirer headline read, "Smell of baked bread may be health hazard." The article went on to describe the dangers of the smell of baking bread. The main danger, apparently, is that the organic components of this aroma may break down ozone (I'm not making this stuff up).

I was horrified. When are we going to do something about bread- induced global warming? Sure, we attack tobacco companies, but when is the government going to go after Big Bread?

Well, I've done a little research, and what I've discovered should make anyone think twice....

1: More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread eaters.

2: Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.

3: In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever and influenza ravaged whole nations.

4: More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.

5: Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been proven that as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a mouse. The average American eats more bread than that in one month!

6: Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low occurrence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and osteoporosis.

7: Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat begged for bread after only two days.

8: Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter and even cold cuts.

9: Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.

10: Newborn babies can choke on bread.

11: Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.

12: Most American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling.


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