Master Chef Professional Pastry Techniques

We proudly present this new edition of Master Chef Professional Pastry Techniques, an update to our original, ground-breaking work. This new edition builds upon the success of its first versions. When Master Chef Professional Pastry Techniques was first published in 2003, we mentioned that the number of books on pastry making available to professionals and amateurs was nearly infinite. Yet most were simply recipe books and only a few showed some techniques. Moreover, the handful with a comprehensive approach was written in languages unfamiliar for our part of the world. The publication of our professional pastry manual clearly fulfilled the objective of bridging that gap, providing needed information to our profession in Latin America. Master Chef Professional Pastry Techniques thus became the first manual of its kind presenting international pastry in a comprehensive fashion, in a language accessible for our region, with detailed explanations of techniques applied by the world’s top pastry professionals. The manual makes a step-by-step presentation of the techniques involved in preparing all types of dough, creams, meringue, mousses, cakes, icings, sauces, chocolates, candy making, sugar show pieces, ice creams and other specialties. Mastery of these techniques allows lovers of the culinary arts, be they professionals or amateurs, not only to correctly interpret and modify any recipe, but above all, to create new recipes, limited only by their imagination. Structured into more than twenty chapters, this work embodies more than twenty years of experience in imparting courses on professional pastry, enriched by lessons learned from world champions and successful participation in international tournaments. Our commitment to the continual updating of these manuals allows for the incorporation of new and different techniques not covered in prior versions. This new edition includes a chapter devoted to preserves, which serve the important function of allowing for the consumption of products that are only available on a seasonal basis. The chapter contains techniques for preserving foods over time. A number of application methods are explained, such as preparation of jellies, marmalades and jams, use of pectin, canning of preserves, sterilization of jars, jellifying agents for candies and jams, preparation of fruits in syrup and in alcohol, and preparation of fruit liqueurs and fruit juices. This introduction could not be concluded without thanking my brother Paulo, an instructor at the Institute, for his direct assistance in the presentation of the techniques, and to Mr. Jorge E. Monti de Valsassina, Continental Director for America, of the World Association of Chefs Societies (W.A.C.S.) for his invaluable support in the manual’s dissemination. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Gustavo Méndez Graciano, Educational Director of the Pan-American Forum of Professional Culinary Associations, for his instrumental observations and support. Mariana Sebess, Buenos Aires, 2021