I'm curious about other's reactions to something that has been rolling around in my mind for awhile. (lots of room to roll in there )
A non caker was talking to me about how much she likes to watch the cake shows (Challenge, Ace, etc) Then she said:
"The cakes are really beautiful but how could you eat it? I can only take so much manipulation of my food." (my italics)
And then recently I read someone's comment on here about some cakes being more like "crafts".
I didn't say anything to my friend because frankly I was caught off guard. Never thought about that before.
Are we touching too much?
Are we losing skills?
Texas_Rose Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Feb 26, 2008
Posts: 3975
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:02 am
I bake bread, cinnamon rolls, bread sticks, pizza, pan dulce, empanadas, ect...
All of those things involve about as much touching as a fondant cake. My hands are clean, my kitchen is clean, it's not a big deal to me.
MikeRowesHunny Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jan 27, 2006
Posts: 2801
Location: Quickstepping across the ballroom, cake in hand!
Birthday: Sep 20
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:13 am
Cake decorating is a craft/art done mainly by using your hands - how can you not touch?!
K8memphis- Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Mar 21, 2005
Posts: 5169
Location: Memphis 10 C
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:13 am
flamingobaker wrote:
...
Are we touching too much?
Are we losing skills?
Loosing skills? I'm nost sure what you mean. We're displaying skills on tv--what do you mean by loosing them, like piping or something where you don't touch the icing?
I dont' think we're touching too much--I mean check out the folks in the fine dining places.
Not to mention getting the hamburger out of the cattle takes a ton of 'touching'. It just would not be pretty to serve it otherwise yes?
majka_ze Frequent Member
Joined: Aug 21, 2008
Posts: 462
Location: Czech rep.
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:25 am
Flamingobaker, for the non caker who can only take so much manipulation of their food - they are lucky not to know how much "manipulation of the food" the food industry brings...
As for cake decorating being craft - I am not really unhappy about this. My cakes are craft - meaning it needs skill you can learn. There are some/many artists here. I don't belong among them. I wasn't given the gift for colors, for forms. My cakes are still hit and miss. I will be happy to learn the craft well.
I am slowly getting where I can reproduce a cake without obvious mistakes and flaws or reproduce an object (toy, picture etc.) in cake. I don't think I can train myself enough to be real artist with gift for good/stunning design ideas.
You can see it here on CC - some newbies make beautiful cakes. You see flaws and newbie mistakes, because they didn't learn "the craft" yet, but the cake all in all is stunning.
Bluehue Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 01, 2008
Posts: 702
Location: Western Australia
Birthday: Dec 12
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:33 am
I don't think anyone WANTS to actually *touch* a cake more than they have too -
Did you mention that gloves are worn alot by many, and it isn't always bare hands touching the cake?
More concerning is all the people at salad bars that me -
I DON'T DO SALAD BARS - *shudder* - all those toilet hands -
Bluehue
indydebi Forum Matriarch
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 22152
Location: Indianapolis IN
Birthday: Jan 19
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:36 am
Salad bars, commercial buffets, smorgasbords, and anyplace that has a "all you can eat for $4.99" deal ..... all make me nervous. Locally, the $4.99 lunch deal place has a high number of HD violations (per the local paper). As I explained to my daughter, "When you have a cheap meal, then you're not making a lot of profit, which means you are cutting costs wherever you can, which means you are running the place with a skeleton staff, which means there is too much work for each person to do, which means some stuff isn't getting done, which means shortcuts, which means lack of proper cleaning, which means HD violations."
grandmom Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 08, 2006
Posts: 561
Location: Frankfort, KY
Birthday: Jan 14
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:44 am
Our mothers and their mothers made our biscuits, pies, breads and everything else with their hands. Their hands likely were clean. My hands are clean. I make biscuits, pies, breads and everything else using those clean hands. That type of touching of food doesn't bother me.
What does bother me is watching Ace of Cakes and seeing Geoff carrying his fondant bundle around in his arms like a baby. Granted, in that episode, his red bundle of fondant was not going to be consumed, it was to cover a "building" not made of cake. But the open disregard of food as food on those shows bothers me.
Mike1394 Forum Fanatic
Joined: Feb 20, 2008
Posts: 1842
Location: Michigan
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:47 am
Of course we all wear gloves when that cake comes out of the oven don't we.
Mike
Win Forum Fanatic
Joined: Mar 10, 2007
Posts: 1202
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:49 am
I think I understand what the friend is saying. My husband watches hairy-armed men (I know, women can be hairy too) take the huge sheets of fondant up to their elbows and lay them over cakes. He remarks that he does not see how you can't get hair into the fondant that way. Many people comment on the hair that is falling into the faces of those who make cake on challenges. Yes, a lot of gloves are worn, but it's not often one sees gloves up to the elbows. Of course, we know hair can fall off your clothes (no matter how hard one tries to keep from it) into any medium whether it's buttercream, fondant, bread dough, etc. Are we handing food too much? I don't see how you cannot handle food in order to perfect it. I did think it was interesting to note; however, that last year on Amazing Wedding Cakes, the only shop that held their hair back was Cake Divas, and this year all but Christopher Garren's wore head gear that restrained their hair. And, does anyone else think it MORE gross to see sweaty chefs dripping into their food as seen on challenges like Chopped, Iron Chef, and Top Chef? Gag.
indydebi Forum Matriarch
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 22152
Location: Indianapolis IN
Birthday: Jan 19
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:55 am
Win wrote:
And, does anyone else think it MORE gross to see sweaty chefs dripping into their food as seen on challenges like Chopped, Iron Chef, and Top Chef? Gag.
Saw that on Hell's Kitchen a couple of times. Oh. My. God.
Kavrena Junior Member
Joined: May 20, 2009
Posts: 24
Location: Colorado
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:57 am
Being a former culinairy student, this was always sa "hot topic". Gloves are used mainly in plating but not always in preparing a meal. It is presumed that a chef's hands are clean at all times. Many people will not it food that is "fussy" or looks like it has been handled too much. What we do is an art and should be treated as such. I personnaly do not know or have not here of an artist who does not "touch" their work. I think people are just way to picky.
This is too funny because while taking Wilton course 3 at Michaels, a lady shopping in the store just decides to walk into class, and stand right next to me watching while I was kneeding fondant to cover my cake with. She looks right at me and says "Wow, everything is so hand made", and made a weird face.
I never thought that may be a turn off for some until that day. But thats where the intricatcies come into play. Machines cannot generate the types of masterpieces that we can with our hands!
snowboarder Frequent Member
Joined: Nov 22, 2005
Posts: 448
Posted:
Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:11 am
I get what the friend is saying because to tell you the truth, now that I know how much handling (or crafting, whatever you want to call it) goes into decorating the more elaborate cakes, it sort of gives me pause when it comes to eating them. I'm not saying it's rational, but nevertheless it's just one of those personal things that makes me think I'd rather have one of those cookies over there instead of a piece of cake. It's also one of the reasons why I simplified my decorating style.
Ok that last part isn't true. I just don't like decorating.
I KNOW hands are clean and/or gloved. And I know about all the hidden germs. But, for example, she is looking at it as going right from "manipulate, squeeze, mold" to being eaten. Cookies, rolls, are cooked in between.
And by skills I guess I do mean piping.
Yes, leveling and fondanting (is that a word?) a cake takes skill and practice, but after that, cutting out strips and dots and flowers does not.
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Of course, we know hair can fall off your clothes (no matter how hard one tries to keep from it) into any medium whether it's buttercream, fondant, bread dough, etc. Are we handing food too much? I don't see how you cannot handle food in order to perfect it. I did think it was interesting to note; however, that last year on Amazing Wedding Cakes, the only shop that held their hair back was Cake Divas, and this year all but Christopher Garren's wore head gear that restrained their hair. And, does anyone else think it MORE gross to see sweaty chefs dripping into their food as seen on challenges like Chopped, Iron Chef, and Top Chef? Gag.
