Pastry Chef Interview

An Interview with a Pastry Chef

Every once in a while, I get an email from a young person who thinks I'm a professional chef and wants to interview me for a school project. I let them know I'm a home cook who enjoys food, cooking, and writing about it. I encourage them to contact another chef, or I find them someone I think may be able to help them.

Patrick, a third grader from Massachusetts, contacted me through his teacher and wanted to interview a pastry chef. Lucky for both of us, Chef Jenni Field, a culinary school graduate, was willing and able.

Here's what Patrick's third-grade teacher wrote me:

I am a third-grade teacher whose class is doing a project about careers.  I have a young man who needs to interview a pastry chef.  Would you be able to accommodate me?  He would email you the six easy questions, and you could return the answers.  Thanks for considering this request.  You'd make one young man very happy! Sincerely,  Amy

Here are Patrick's thoughtful questions, Chef Jenni's introductory remarks, and her answers. Thanks, Jenni.

First of all, you need to know that I was a pastry chef in fine-dining restaurants, but now I am a food writer and have my own website. I enjoyed working in the kitchen, but I love what I do now, too. You have asked some very good questions, and I will try to answer them as fully as possible.

1.  Why did you decide to do this job?

I had been a teacher for sixteen years but always loved cooking and baking.  After so many years of teaching, I wasn't really enjoying it anymore, and I was excited about changing careers to become a pastry chef.  That way, I could cook and bake every day!

2.  Do you need special education, training, or a license to do
your job? What kind?

Many people get into cooking and baking by starting at a young age. Most of the great chefs in Europe and many in the United States never went to a special school. They just worked in many different restaurants and kitchens, learning from great chefs and slowly gaining more responsibility in the kitchen.

In the United States, many people graduate from culinary school, but graduating from school doesn't make you a chef.  "Chef" is the French word for "chief," and the chief is the person in charge.  The chief has to know more about cooking and baking than everyone else in the kitchen, and he/she has earned respect.

People fresh out of culinary school still have a lot to learn, but it is a perfect place to start, and you can learn many of the basics of cooking and baking.

Many cooks and chefs are ServSafe Certified, which means that they have passed a test on food safety and sanitation. When I went to culinary school, I also took and passed the ServSafe test.

3.  What do you like about your job? What do you dislike?

I really enjoyed (and I still do) coming up with a dessert idea, making it, and having people like it. There's almost nothing better than being complimented on a great dessert that was all your idea!

What I disliked most was standing up in a sweltering kitchen all day.  My feet were tired and sore, and I only wanted to lie on the couch and watch TV for an hour or two!

4.  How long have you been doing this job?

I worked at my first restaurant for a year and a half, and I was the pastry cook and then the pastry chef.  It was a good feeling to get a promotion to pastry chef!

I helped to open and create the dessert menu for another restaurant, and I worked there as the pastry chef in charge of production (making all the dessert components) for six months.  Then, my husband got a new job in another state, and we moved away.

5.  What do you do on this job?

Aside from making all the dessert components--ice creams, garnishes, sauces as well as the cakes, tarts and other main dessert items, I also ordered necessary ingredients when they were running low, making sure we never ran out of important things like chocolate, flour, butter, sugar and eggs.

I also kept an inventory of all the food items that we needed.  I ordered ingredients from different vendors and made sure they were all properly stored.

6.  Do you have to retire from this job at a certain age? What age?

As far as I am aware, there is no set age at which a chef needs to retire.  Many chefs work hard into their 60s, 70s and even 80s.  I read somewhere that being a chef is a very good job because you'll never go hungry and you'll always have a job.

I hope I've answered your questions, Patrick.  If you'd like to interview a pastry chef who is still working at a hotel or restaurant, you can probably call one of the fancy restaurants in your city and ask to interview the pastry chef.  Most chefs are excited about their jobs and would be happy to help you with your project.

Take care,
Jenni Field

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