The human tongue can sense four flavours; sour, bitter, salty and sweet. Half of us have a tendency of not eating sweets at all and half of us have a tendency of being addicted to sweets. I feel having a sweet tooth is the best thing; one has a variety of options to soothe their tongue. Some of us crave for sweets when we’re not well or when we feel low; they act as an energizer for us. For some of us, sweets are the best gift for our loved ones, be it lovers, friends or family, sweets bring a smile to everybody’s face. Too much of anything is not good for the body though and the same goes for sugar as well thus creating an even bigger market for sugar free products for health conscious individuals.
The world of Pastry has evolved in the last few years. Traditional Indian sweets or ‘mithais’ are slowly being replaced with French pastries. The pastry world offers an array of flavors, textures, colors and shapes and something to satiate everybody’s taste buds. Thanks to social media, and aggressive sales and marketing of various patisseries, every household is aware of Belgian chocolates, fondant cakes, mousse cakes, macaroons and so much more. With such an increase in demand for the products, the number of pastry chefs is also on the rise to keep up with the ever growing demand. After all, no celebration or festival is complete without a few sweet treats!
There are broadly three main categories in the pastry and baking world. Bakery consists of baked goods such as fresh bread, breakfast pastries, cookies, puffs, etc. Pastry consists of cakes, entremets, petit gateauxs, mousse cake and other cold desserts. Last is the confectionary section which consists of macaroons, chocolates, pate de fruit, nougat and other sugary delights.
Working in a Bakery or Pastry shop is no piece of cake. It requires passion for the art, guidance under good pastry chefs coupled with access to great ingredients and equipment to be successful in the field. Baking is no more just a hobby. With the advent of many great pastry academies and colleges many students are turning towards pastry as a profession. So get those aprons out and start whipping up a storm as the pastry world is only going to grow bigger, bolder, better and off course sweeter!