The art of french pastry phần 9

producinggood
apprentices.Isaidto
myself,“IfIquit,God
knowswhereI’mgoingto
endup,”andIknewthatif
IleftIwouldneverbeable
tofacemydad,soImade
myselfstickwithit.
Intheend,ratherthan
beingbeatendownbythe
rigoroustraining,Iwas
inspiredbyittogoonin
thisbeautifulprofession.I


workedinbigbakeriesin
Alsace,andwasevena
pastrychefintheFrench
navywhenIdidmy
obligatorymilitaryservice.
(Whatothercountrybut
Francewouldassigna
pastrycheftoabattleship
stationedoffthecoastof
Africa?)AndsincethenI
havehaddemandingbut
amazingjobsthathave
takenmealloverthe


world.

In1991Imovedto
Chicagotorunthepastry
operationattheFairmont
Hotel,butbythenIknew
forsurethatteachingwas
mycalling.Inaway,I
beganmycareerasa
teacherwhenItookmy
firstjoboverseasasan
executivepastrychefand
foundmyself,attheageof
twenty-three,inchargeof


anoperationinSaudi
Arabiawheremy
productionteamconsisted
ofthirty-fiveworkersfrom
thePhilippines,India,
Bangladesh,SriLanka,and
Pakistanwhohadnever
beforeworkedinpastry.It
wasn’teasy,butIhave
alwayslovedachallenge.
That’swhatmakesthe
workIhavechosenso
fascinating:it’sanever-


endingstory.Withevery

subsequentjob,from
BruneitoHongKongto
PaloAltotoChicago,I’ve
trainedteamsof
inexperiencedworkers.I
begangivinginformal
chocolateclassesafter
workandonweekendsin
theloftwhereIlived.In
1995,withmycolleague
SébastienCanonne,I
openedtheFrenchPastry