What I've Learned So Far

1. My topic is something you can learn and perfect on your own at home. It's usually self-explanatory because you're always following the directions on a recipe or from your instructor. Most of my research said that presentation par to taste is what catches the eyes of you customers that makes them want to buy your products. Being more creative and having your creations to standout from others' is what helps me the most in my ROP class.

2. This is a picture of the pastries we've done in class. The mango cream puff (top left) and the strawberry napoleon (bottom right) are the ones I plated myself. This was a bit challenging for me especially the cream puff. All of my classmates used chocolate in their plating. Then I remembered what Sebastien from the King of Pastry, a documentary, said "When the judges will have too much chocolate, you'd want to go with fruits because it's refreshing." I thought mine looked really plain because I didn't use chocolate at all. But my creativity still got me to the top 5 winners for presentation. The blueberry danish pastry (bottom left) and white chocolate chip cookie with pecans (top right) were made with my first team. It was absolutely fun and we got an A and our cookie won the bake-off.

3. I've learned the most out of is from the documentary, King of Pastry, it showed the challenges a pastry chef goes through, and their gorgeous dishes. It showed me how they interpret their inspirations into their dishes. Like what I said from before being different from the others and having your creativity stand out is what I applied on the mango cream puff. Not using chocolate on my dish got me into the top 5.

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

(1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.

I can use my ROP class for my independent component. The class I'm taking now is Basic Baking which teaches the basic knowledge and procedures to making desserts and breads. The class had given me first hand experiences, not just on baking and making desserts, but how to run a kitchen. I'm also taking a Safety and Sanitation class to go further into the knowledge of being safe in the kitchen and for the people we will be serving. I plan on taking Cake Decorations next semester if they will offer the course.

(2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.

My Basic Baking class is giving me about 150 hours. I started from the third week of September and will finish late January. The class is on Wednesdays and Fridays from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. As you can tell, a class is 5 hours long but the time really goes by easily because you're always busy in the kitchen.

(3) How does your independent study component relate to your EQ?  

My The class I'm taking now, which is my Independent Component, is one of the pre requisite for Professional  Baking class. The others are Cake Decorations, Chocolate, and Frozen Desserts. I'm not going to be able to attend all of the classes but these are all steps to gaining the skills and knowledge required for a pastry chef. In these ROP classes, I get to actually experience how to make desserts and your peers and your instructors gives you techniques how to do it.

Defining the Essential Question

(1) What is your EQ?

"What is the most important skill to have to become a successful pastry chef?"

(2) Define the words in your EQ to make sure we are on the same page regarding what your EQ means.

Skill is the ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice,aptitude, etc., to do something well.

Successful is having attained a position, honors, or the like. 

Pastry chef  is a professional cook specializing in desserts and sweet baked goods.

(3) What are some possible answers to your EQ so far? 

Being detail-oriented, organized, creative, has managing skills, and people skills.

(4) What has been your most important source and why?  Be specific.  If it is a person, name them and what they do, if it is an article, book or video, name the title and author.  

My most important resource for now is an article called "Becoming a Pastry Chef" from ReluctantGourmet.com. It has given a very clear overview of how a pastry chef works and it gave me possible answers to my EQ.

Second Interview Questions

I will be interviewing Chef Shane, the executive chef in my ROP class, for my second interview.
Here are some questions I would ask him:

1. What was you experience in the field of a pastry chef prior to teaching here at CAI?
2. How long have you been teaching here and why did you decide to teach?
3. Were there differences of working as a chef and a pastry chef?
4. Did you graduate as a major in culinary and where?
5. Right off the bat, did you know you were going to be a chef?
6. What, for you, is the most important skill to have to becoming a successful chef?
7. Do you have other culinary-related goals than just being a chef instructor?
8. I heard you are strict in the kitchen, based on your prior experiences, does it help when managing your department?
9. Do you have any recommendations that I can follow to become an A student here at CAI?
10. How many students that you had under your wings are you proud of, that you think has been successful in the field?