What does a "pastry chef" do? Does it just make bread?

This question should be said to be very broad...China’s food culture is very broad...extensive and profound...the same is true for pasta! There are many categories...not only the four major doughs but also There is a combination of vegetables and dim sum...so a good pastry chef needs to do a lot

Chinese food culture has a long history, and there are many varieties of Chinese dim sum. After thousands of years of innovation and development by pastry chefs, their basic forms are also colorful and realistic, such as geometric shapes, pictograms, natural shapes, etc. Baked goods were introduced from the West. Although they are convenient to eat and rich in nutrients, they are still different in shape compared to Chinese snacks.

1. The shape of dim sum

1. Bao mainly refers to various types of steamed buns, which are fermented dough. There are many types of buns, which are divided into large and small buns according to the degree of fermentation; pleated buns according to their shapes, such as Sanding buns, Xiao Long Bao, etc.; fancy buns, such as longevity peach buns, goldfish buns, etc.; seamless buns , such as: sugar packets, crystal packets, etc.

2. Dumplings are an important form of pastry in my country. Their shapes include: wooden fish shape, such as dumplings, wontons, etc.; crescent shape, such as steamed dumplings, pot stickers, dumplings, etc.; comb-back shape, such as shrimp dumplings, etc.; horn shape, such as pot stickers. etc.; sparrow-head shapes such as small wontons, etc.; there are also other pictographic varieties, such as fancy steamed dumplings, etc. According to the ingredients used, they include: water-based dumplings, such as boiled dumplings, steamed dumplings, and pot stickers; oil-based dumplings, such as curry crispy dumplings, eyebrow dumplings, etc.; others such as Chengmian dumplings, cornmeal steamed dumplings, and red and white rice flour dumplings. Dumplings etc.

3. Cakes are mostly made of rice, flour, eggs, etc. as the main raw materials. Rice flour cakes include: spongy cakes, such as five-color round sponge cake, red bean lard sponge cake, etc.; sticky cakes, such as lard white sugar rice cake, rose and mince honey cake, etc.; fermented cakes, such as cotton cake, etc. . Flour-based cakes include thousand-layer oil cake, honey cake, etc. Cakes include clear cakes, fancy cakes, etc. Others include yam cake, water chestnut cake, chestnut cake, peanut cake and other cakes made with fruits, dried fruits, grains, vegetables, etc.

4. Dumplings are often called cake dumplings together with cakes. They are generally made with rice flour as the main raw material and are mostly spherical. Varieties include: raw rice dumplings, such as glutinous rice dumplings, pigeon dumplings, etc.; cooked rice dumplings, such as double stuffing dumplings, etc. Other varieties include Yuanxiao with fruit fillings, sesame dumplings and other varieties.

5. The roll type has a wide range of materials and many varieties. Varieties include: yeast rolls, which can be divided into flower rolls, such as Sixi rolls, butterfly rolls, chrysanthemum rolls, etc.; folded rolls, such as pig paw rolls, lotus leaf rolls, etc.; stretched rolls, such as silver wire rolls, chicken wire rolls, etc. . Rice (noodle) rolls, such as: Ruyi sesame cold rolls, etc. Crispy rolls, such as Terminalia crispy rolls, etc. Pancake rolls, such as sesame milk rolls, etc. There are also special varieties such as spring rolls.

6. Pancakes Pancakes are one of the varieties with a long history in our country. According to the different crusts, they can be divided into: water-based cakes, such as thin pancakes, clear oil cakes, etc.; leavened dough cakes, such as Huangqiao sesame cakes, fermented rice cakes, etc.; crispy dough cakes, such as scallion pancakes, Soviet-style moon cakes, etc.; others There are fried rice cakes made from rice flour, meat pot cakes made from egg noodles, water chestnut cakes and osmanthus millet cakes made from fruits and vegetables.

7． Most of the pastry types are water-oil pastries. According to the expression method, it is divided into: bright crisp, such as mandarin duck butter, lotus root crisp, etc.; dark crisp, such as Shuangma crisp cake, etc.; semi-dark crisp, such as apple crisp, etc. Other varieties include peach cake, lotus paste and nectar cake and other mixed cake varieties.

8． Noodles mainly refer to long strips of pasta such as noodles and rice noodles. Noodles include: sauce braised noodles, such as Dandan noodles, fried noodles, braised noodles, etc.; soup noodles, such as clear soup noodles, colorful soup noodles, etc.; fried noodles, such as vegetarian fried noodles, Yifu noodles, etc.; others include cold noodles, braised noodles, etc. Noodles, braised noodles and other varieties. Fried dough sticks, Yunnan's cross-bridge rice noodles, etc. also belong to the stick products.

9． Rice is the staple food of the majority of people in our country, especially those in the south. It can be divided into two types: ordinary rice and fancy rice. Ordinary rice can be divided into steamed rice, stewed rice, etc., while fancy rice can be divided into fried rice, rice bowl, vegetable rice and eight-treasure rice.

10． Porridge is also one of the staple foods of the majority of people in our country. It is divided into two categories: ordinary porridge and fancy porridge. Ordinary porridge is divided into boiled porridge and stewed porridge. Fancy porridge can be divided into sweet porridge, such as mung bean porridge, laba porridge, etc.; salty porridge, such as fish fillet porridge, preserved egg porridge, etc.

11． Frozen types are seasonal varieties in summer, mainly sweets, such as watermelon jelly, almond tofu, etc.

12． In addition to the pastry shapes mentioned above, there are also some common varieties such as steamed buns, twists, rice dumplings, siomai, etc., which are also popular among people.

2. Pastry Appearance Characteristics

There are many types of pastries in my country, and different varieties have different shapes. Even the same variety, different regions, and different flavor schools will vary. Realistic shape. But overall, the appearance of pastries has certain characteristics, which can be summarized in the following aspects:

1. Geometric form Geometric form is the basis of plastic arts. Geometric shapes are widely used in pastry modeling, which is made by imitating various geometric shapes in life. Geometry can be divided into single geometry and combined geometry. Single geometric shapes such as the circles of glutinous rice balls and lotus root flour dumplings; the triangles and trapezoids of rice dumplings; the squares of square cakes; the rectangles of pot cakes; the rhombuses of thousand-layer oil cakes, etc. Three-dimensional decorated cakes are composed of several geometric pieces of different sizes, combined with various decorated shapes to form a beautiful three-dimensional shape. Generally speaking, this kind of cake belongs to the combined geometric shape.

2. Pictographic forms can be divided into imitating plant forms and imitating animal forms.

(1) Imitation plant shape is a common shape in pastry making, especially some fancy pastries, which pay attention to shape and often imitate plants in nature, such as flowers, like roses in boat pastries. flowers, peonies; lotus cakes, lily cakes, and crabapple cakes in pastry products; orchid dumplings, plum blossom dumplings, etc. in water-based products, and some imitate fruits, such as pomegranate buns, birthday peach buns, gourd buns, etc. in yeast dough. There are even more items on board, such as persimmons, pears, grapes, oranges, apples, etc.; imitation vegetables include green peppers, radishes, broad beans, peanuts, etc.

(2) Imitation of animal shapes, which is also a relatively common shape, such as hedgehog buns, goldfish buns, bat clips, butterfly clips in yeast dough; dragonfly dumplings and swallows in water-based pastries. Dumplings, cicada dumplings, pigeon dumplings, etc.; there are even more in the boat dishes, including goldfish, jade rabbit, chicks, blue birds, jade goose, white pigs... these are all imitation animal-shaped pastries.

3. The natural form adopts relatively simple modeling techniques to make the snacks form irregular shapes through ripening, such as flowering steamed buns, which naturally "bloom" after steaming. Others such as open smile, palace peach cake, honeycomb egg yolk corner, hibiscus pearl cake, etc. are also naturally formed during the ripening process.

3. Pastry shape requirements

From the perspective of forming methods, there are three types of pastry forming: manual forming, impression forming, and machine forming. However, from the actual situation, the pastry forming method is still based on Mainly hand-shaped, shaped into various shapes by the pastry chef's deft hands. A series of operating skills and processes in pastry modeling are all centered around the purpose of eating and increasing appetite. First, it is delicious, and secondly, it is good-looking. It can not only satisfy people's desire for food, but also create a sense of beauty. But the pastry, which is mainly about deliciousness, also has specific form as a basis. Therefore, the requirements for pastry shape are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. The styling strives to be simple and natural. When we make pastries, we should strive to be concise, bright, and develop in the direction of abstraction. On the one hand, because the primary purpose of making pastry is to eat, not to watch; on the other hand, excessive emphasis on lifelikeness is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the food is susceptible to contamination, which does not meet the needs of modern fast-paced life. Simple, bright and natural, which can satisfy appetite and is hygienic, is the direction to pursue. The cumbersome decoration and deliberately realistic approach must be resolutely abandoned.

2. Pay attention to vivid images. The shape of our country's pastry is mainly expressed in the dough and dough. Historically, pastry chefs have been good at making flowers, birds, animals, fish, insects, melons, fruits, etc. in different shapes, which adds to the appeal and edible quality of the pastry. value. The pastry tastes good and looks good, which not only gives people artistic enjoyment, but also creates better economic benefits.

The selection of themes for pastry shapes should combine time factors and environmental awareness. It is better to use simple and concise images that people like to hear and see, such as goldfish, white rabbits, jade geese, butterflies, mandarin ducks, etc. We must be good at grasping the main characteristics of objects and extracting artistic shapes suitable for pastry modeling points from life. Through the use of omission, exaggeration, deformation, addition, geometry and other techniques, you can create vivid pastries that are also concise and quick. For example, the rose used for decoration in decorated cakes is often omitted to a few petals, but the characteristics of the rose are still retained; the "goldfish dumplings" focus on exaggerating the goldfish eyes and tail to make it more vivid. "Butterfly Roll" processes the complex patterns on the butterfly into symmetrical geometric shapes, which is both vivid and simple.

Pastry, pastry, anything related to the staple food of pasta, you need to know, and you also need to know some Chinese pastries. It depends on what you want to know. I am a pastry chef, Chinese style, but I still I learned some Western-style pastry at work so I can prepare for it when I need it.