STIR THE POTS

Michael Laiskonis

Michael Laiskonis has a great blog, insights into the making of great professional kitchens from the perspect of a master of desert. So when I tried to get his colleague at Le Bernadin, Chef Eric Ripert, and scheduling conflicts prevented it, I decided to go after this talented pastry chef! One of the things that interested me about Michael was his background. Rather than attend a traditional culinary school, he worked as a line cook and baked bread, one of the things I love to do the most.

My last guest here, Nick Malgieri, praised Michael as one of the most interesting pastry chefs. Though he veers towards favoring modern baking techniques, his recipes and ideas rely on the classic base of the patisserie repertoire. Even then he may use some of the new techniques or tools, but only after first mastering the basics. I expect in the future to make a pilgrimage to Le Bernadin, not only for the legendary status of the restaurant and cuisine of Chef Ripert, but of course to try Michael Laiskonis's desserts.

Michael was so kind as to send pictures and a recipe for cider beignets, thank you Michael!

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Nick Malgieri

One of my all-time favorite recipes is "cantucci di prato." I found it in Nick Malgieri's Great Italian Pastry. That and his "krumiri cookies," corn flavored and butterlicious are... delicious! What is special about Nick's recipes are that they're easy to execute without the usual editorial mistakes found in many books.

Nick wears many hats; first as a teacher at the Institute of Culinary education (formerly Peter Kump's), author of nine books, and Switzerland's unofficial ambassador of gastronomy. His years of experience, as well his demeanor show, not only in personality but the love of his craft. Even though I never met or took a class with him before; I always keep at least two of his books nearby when I need a reference or just a reason to bake something delicious.

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Congratulations Dieter

Editing interviews and posting, I periodically check the stats to identify what people are looking for from all parts of the world. In the process, I was led to an article about no other than that really wonderful man, Dieter Schorner.

My favorite part of the article connected food and people with a wonderful lesson from this great teacher.
As Chef Schorner put it, "If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. But if you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people. I teach as if I am the farmer who is planting the seed of prosperity and I am praying it will grow successful people."

Wish I had said that. Happy there's someone with wisdom like Dieter Schorner to say it for us.

Juan Arache

Juan Arache is a neighbor of mine who teaches cake decorating at his shop here in Sunnyside,at the Sugar Room. My wife first told me about  his store one day and payed for a decorating class for me to attend along with several chatty women, I was the only male student of course ! The class was based on the Wilton decorating method with a lot of input and experience from Juan's years of cake decorating as well as his secret weapon, the over the top Dominican cake which made for constant gaggle amongst my fellow classmates. You see the Dominican cake is the rage here in New York, amongst office parties and has even hit the Anglo's for a loop. The cake is sold by the pound (a lost in translation sort of thing, which Juan explains), and is a rich pound cake and Juan knowing full well everyone wants to
make it rather than pay for it put it in his curriculum as an incentive to join! For a while I wanted to speak to this soft spoken and very dedicated craftsman, he follows the old school traditions of using his hands and heart to create the perfectly decorated cake for any occasion! Juan is also active in his community contributing weekly in El Diario, where he can introduce flavors of the Latin American pantry while living in the American perspective.

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Dieter Schorner

I recall first seeing Dieter Schorner in my bread class one Saturday morning about 10- years ago, he left some samples that we enthusiastically polished off! Chef Jacques Torres told us to try the Danish pastries, we didn't need much encouragement either. They were toothsome crisp layers of buttery dough married with pistachio paste and sugar glaze, it was sublime yet so simple. A few weeks later when I befriended a German student from his class, we exchanged stories about cooking and our mutual link to Germany, he kindly left me  copies of Chef Schorner's recipes a literal treasure trove!
I can tell you his brownies with cherries soaked in orange juice are addictive, his stollen simple fruit and nut filled pieces of manna. So when I received e-mail from him that he would be available to speak to me, I was like a kid in a candy shop. First his knowledge is worth its weight in gold, his storytelling from a different era with anecdotes that are well placed for a complacent generation! As for the knuckle headed publisher who said he wasn't current, he should have his head examined! Chef Dieter is a living book of pastry and life experiences  and I can't wait  for a copy!

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