Everyone who is going to culinary school for baking and pastry or who has recently graduated, as well as those in apprenticeships and other types of training, should read this book. To me, it is an indispensable vocational guide. Even those who are going into food and not pastry per se should read this, since cooperation between the savory and sweet kitchen is essential these days in restaurants.
This book is written by the executive pastry chef of the Coyote Cafe, and mostly it contains his opinions and viewpoints. It also has quotes from many famous and successful pastry professionals. Just so you can keep track, the book has brief biographies of the 30 or so professionals who are quoted throughout the text, many of whom you will recognize.
It contains the following chapters: History of Sweets (a mostly worthless re-hash of familiar material); Origins of Inspiration (childhood memories and early career experiences); Foundations of Learning (culinary schools, apprenticeships, and training); Inside the World of the Pastry Chef (what it is like under various conditions); Ingredients of Success (ingredients and menus); Traditions, Trends, Future (thumb-sucking chapter containing thoughts about the future of the pastry chef).
It also contains 4 dozen or so dessert recipes. Sadly, these are modern, new-fangled variations and recipes. They are more interesting for their creativity than as good recipes that you will want as part of your repertoire. As with all trendy recipes, these will be mostly out of date within a couple of years. A few recipes are very good, such as Apple Apple Apple or Buchteln, and there is a handy index of recipes in the beginning, which good since they are randomly scattered throughout the book. Most, however, are interesting for some of the sub-recipes, like tangerine sorbet or pina colada sauce.
My main complaint is about the quotes he uses. The author has a stellar array of great pastry chefs (Emily Luchetti and Nancy Silverton to name just 2), but they are limited to just brief snippets of a few sentences. It would have been more illuminating to have extended quotes from them, so you could get a clear idea of their ideas, attitudes and opinions. As is, the text is mostly the author with a few quotes thrown in here and there, which is not as informative as it could be.
The greatest failing, however, is the idealized picture it presents. It does not warn the prospective professional about long hours, hard work, drudgery, routine, smelly clothes and underwear and hair, tempermental bosses, and low pay. The true satisfaction and delight of the job of pastry chef is also mostly absent.
"Being a pastry chef is so much more than baking a successful batch of chocolate chip cookies! In The Making of a Pastry Chef, you will find some of this field?s top dessert makers talking shop with a colleague in a way that is frank and compelling."?Nancy Silverton, Campanile and La Brea Bakery
"This book reads like a who?s who in the pastry world and contains a vast amount of information. Andrew?s writing is as good as his pastry and his pastry is as good as it gets."?Michael Schneider, Chocolatier Magazine