Evolution

Evolution: Techniques and Ingredients for Modern Pastry
by Jordi Puigvert
English and Spanish text
240 pages, paperback

From the publisher:

Introducing new and advantageous ingredients, simplifying the processes, improving the performance and applications of each product; in short, optimizing the technical side of pastry to the maximum. This is what evolutionary pastry is about, which Jordi Puigvert practices and teaches all over the world as a technical adviser for countless firms. And this is in fact the subject that this book, published by Grupo Vilbo and So Good Magazine, revolves around.

In a didactic way, and with numerous step-by-step pictures for each technique, the book focuses on the so-called ‘technological’ ingredients, revealing their little-known applications in pastry products. Puigvert proves that there are ingredients available to the artisans nowadays that do not subtract quality or nobility from a product at all, but allow to obtain magnificent results regarding texture, preservation and better interaction with other ingredients.

Jordi Puigvert has traveled the world teaching pastry and culinary professionals the results of his research and technical progresses. As for the regular courses he gives, places like Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, the USA or Taiwan-–among others–-are usual on his agenda.

1) Ingredients. If there is a natural ingredient, with an origin and extraction method similar to that of the usual ones, and which provides us with practical and specific solutions in our daily tasks, why shouldn’t we use it?

2) Applications. Jordi Puigvert has deeply researched the technical possibilities of gelling and thickening agents, emulsifiers, etc. with a clear objective-–offering the pastry professional specific solutions to fight off everyday problems.

3) Recipes. In this section, all the complete recipes worked throughout the book are compiled. It is a total of 20 creations of modern pastry (cakes, desserts, marshmallows, macaroons, etc.) with over 60 components, as well as their final assembly.

How can we whip a meringue without applying heat, without using egg whites and still obtaining the greatest stability?
How can a gelatin withstand temperatures of up to 80C-–inside a cake, for example–-and still hold its structure?
How can we keep a frozen product from losing water while thawing?
How can we make a cuttable pistachio praline without the need for chocolate couverture or cocoa butter?
How can we easily turn a regular mousse into a frozen one without modifying the basic recipe?

Find the answers to these questions and more inside Evolution.

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