Sparkle Wanted
One of the most important jobs I have as the founder of San Francisco Cooking School is to make sure we hire the best instructors in the business. I talk to prospective culinary and pastry students all the time and can boast (honestly) that what I love most about our teaching staff is their insatiable desire to continue learning. Who wants a teacher who feels they’ve peaked? The best teachers are those who are still in tune with what’s happening in the real world and curious about it every day. They read, they eat, they tinker, and they bring all of this into the classroom.
When I asked Chef Nicole Plue, our Director of Pastry Arts, to share how she stays curious, she cited the experience below. I think it perfectly embodies what makes a successful cook or chef — keep learning and always look for that sparkle.
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Last month I taught a kouign amann class. It was a fun mix of returning alumni, a handful of local working pastry cooks and chefs, and some ambitious home bakers. Aided by my trusty teaching assistant Mini, I was inspired to take a slight detour in my regular lesson plan. I wanted to try using granulated honey in the formula to see if it would produce a happy gooey golden honey treasure in the middle, similar to the morning bun at Craftsman and Wolves which someone had just described to me. I was curious about how they do it and if I could recreate it.
My curiosity paid off. We made a variation on the classic formula I usually teach, substituting 10% whole-wheat flour, using granulated honey and then, the last minute inspiration, a light sprinkling of maple sugar. It was love at first bite: the whole wheat made the dough lighter and crispier and I’m always a sucker for a whole grain. The honey created a light complex caramel without burning which was one of my concerns and the maple sugar enhanced the salt and butter (the best parts!) even more.
As Mini and I were cleaning up after class, I confided to her: This doesn’t get old. It’s still a thrill to make something new and delicious, even after all years, all the hours I’ve spent in kitchens. The musician Jason Isbell said in an interview that this is at the very heart of mastery, finding the thing you can keep coming back to, keep interested in, stay curious about through all the repetition, all the time and practice it takes to get good at it.
Famed pastry chef Pierre Hermé said you can suss out the quality of a pastry chef by the sparkle in their eye when they talk about their craft. I was feeling my sparkle that night sharing our kouign amann with friends.
My new pro pastry class just started last week and I CAN’T WAIT to make the honey maple kouign amann with them along with all the other delicious experiences I know await us.
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