Butterscotch, Egg Whites, and other news ~

**2007: For a current calendar of my upcoming classes, click here.**

Bring Back Butterscotch!
REAL BUTTERSCOTCH!
Not those awful artificially flavored chips! NO!

Everyone's talking about Candy Sagon's article in The Washington Post this past Wednesday March 7. Click on this link to read the piece.

Yeah, she quotes me. As well as some other confectionery experts. It's an honor to be in print. Especially when it comes to de-mystifying an ingredient, a preparation whose true, authentic nature has been collecting dust on the shelf for far too long.

I've written about Butterscotch a few times. Here and here.

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This Sunday March 11 I'm teaching a class on the subject of Egg Whites.

When you understand egg whites, how they behave, how to make them do exactly what you want/need, and why, you become adept at:

Marshmallows, baked meringues such as Pavlova, Nougat, Lemon Meringue Pies, buttercream, Angel Food Cake, Genoise, floating islands (ile flottante), Chiffon cakes, mousse, Sabayon and Zabaglione, as well as many more things including basic breakfast items such as scrambled eggs, Hollandaise sauce, and popovers!

There are still a few spaces left!

Please sign up if you want to take part in this exciting, multi-layered class...

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In lieu of some strong words I've written lately about the realities of being a pastry chef today and post 9/11, Time Out New York has written Sweet Nothings, an article re-enforcing information I wish were not true. Follow this link to read the short and informative piece.

(thank you Charles Beronio, artist and ex-boyfriend extraordinaire for sending it to me in the snail mail!)

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If you live in the Bay Area, I hope to see you at this intriguing film screening:

"Eat at Bill's" at the Hillside Club
Thursday, March 15
7:30 PM
The Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street (at Arch)
Berkeley, CA
Admission: $5.
(510) 843 8724 for more information Hillside Club   

"Eat At Bill's" is a film about our beloved Monterey Market. A produce "church" if there ever was one... Watch a little video teaser at Edible Nation by clicking on this link.

Hope to see you soon!

Comments

[Ashley]

Looks like I will be in the Bay area in August while my husband is shooting a wedding. I would LOVE to catch a class then. I know it's a ways off but I'll keep checking your schedule. In the meantime I will daydream about the possibility and continue to keep up with the blog!

[Joe Fish]

Notice that the author seems to be confused about your gender in the Washington Post article. Kind of funny, kind of not.
F

[joanna]

Uh, Shuna, did you object that the Washington Post reporter got your gender wrong?

[Elayne]

Thank Gawd his name was spelled right!!!
Just a little gender bending....

[shuna fish lydon]

Ashley-- It would be an honor to have you in one of my classes! (in fact you'd make me a little nervous...) :}

Joe Fish, Joanna & Elayne,

gender is a quirky subject for me-- you might already know this from reading past posts... really it's no bother one way or the other. Just don't call me a "lady!"

[Derrick Schneider]

I went to the first airing of that movie. It was enjoyable and gave a good picture of the way that Bill and the whole Monterey Market staff run their business.

Makes me wish they were a lot closer to my apartment.

[Bakerina]

Please thank your friend Charles for me, too. For the first time in I-can't-remember-how-long, I forgot to buy a copy of Time Out New York last week; had it not been for you, I would have missed that article on the state of pastry positions in NYC. Thank you for the link.

Because I don't want to hijack your comment field, I will refrain from sharing all my Technicolor feelings about this issue. ;) I'll just note that starting pastry salaries don't appear to have changed at all from the pay I was offered as an entry-level pastry cook eight years ago, and in that time, the tuition at my alma mater has increased by 145%. To say that I'm aghast is putting it mildly.

[Julie]

Last night I made your butterscotch pudding -- the butterscotch posts and your prior links and the WP article PLUS Bakerina's recent post about butterscotch got to me -- and I'm now in butterscotch heaven. I did do one thing differently -- I always make a cold slurry with cornstarch, since stirring hot liquid into it makes me too nervous, and this way I never get lumps. Anyway, it came out fantastic -- the butterscotch flavor is pure and the texture is silken. We ate it with homemade vanilla bean pound cake and fresh (albeit guiltily out-of-season) raspberries. Once again, thanks for sharing.