Brian Tan – HoF

On this cold but sunny Sunday, February 19th, our students, teachers anf staff gathered at the Lujiazui branch of House of Flour (HoF) to attend a demonstration organized by Brian Tan.

A TV team was there, as they were following Brian during the whole week for a report, but the students didn’t seem intimidated as they’re quite used to having journalists coming, taking pictures or filming them at the Baking Centre!

Brian chose for his demonstration one of his famous chocolate brownies. Not only a brilliant Chef, Brian is also extremely friendly and managed to turn the demonstration into a lively sharing with the students. Testing their knowledge on bakery and pastry, he asked them to guess the steps of the recipe, and gave them useful tips. Watching his precise and fluent gestures, the students seemed respectful, lots of them wondering how long it would take them to reach the top. It also was very interesting for them to see how every Chef has its own method and that this recipe could be very different from what they had done in class or in the hotels they’re interning at.

While the brownie was in the oven (20minutes, so that it’s not melting and breaking, and can be cut into individual pieces, but still very soft inside), Brian presented his background. He explained his own story and how he came from making Kopi coffee, not knowing anything about bakery or pastry at the age of 20, to becoming Chef and have his own three branches of HoF desserts-bar in Shanghai. Still very humble, he gave many advice to the students and especially to hold on their passion, work hard to reach their goals and not give up when facing difficulties.

The students asked him many questions and certainly saw this demonstration as an inspiration for their own vocation. In the end, Brian confessed he was really impressed with the dynamism and motivation of this 4th SYB promotion, and happy with the fact they dared expressing themselves and question him!

By the way, do we need to mention how delicious the brownie was? 🙂

在这个阳光普照的周日,我们的老师,学员和员工们齐聚在Hof陆家嘴店,观摩了由Brian Tan亲自操刀的一次蛋糕制作过程。

有一对电视采访小组也在那里,他们已经跟随Brian Tan一周为了撰写报告,但是学员们已经对记者在烘焙中心的采访,拍摄太习惯了,所以他们表现的十分自然

来测试他们的蛋糕和糕点烘焙知识,这次Brian选择制作的是他十分出名的巧克力布朗尼,他提问学员们,让他们大胆猜想食材并给予他们有用的小贴士,学员们对于Brian在制作过程中的精确和熟练手法感到吃惊和赞许,他们都纷纷想知道需要多久的练习才能达到这个水平,另外,他们也很感兴趣于不同的烹饪师对于食谱都有着不同的诠释,像这次的制作过程就和他们曾经在课堂上学习的和在酒店工作中的有着很大的不同。

布朗尼需要在烤箱中烤20分钟,这样制作出的布朗尼就不会融化会更有韧性,方便分成小块,但是布朗尼不会因为烘烤过而使得口感变硬。在等待布朗尼烘焙的时间里,Brian向学员们分享了他的故事,从他20岁的时候对烘焙的一无所知到如今成为了烘焙大师并在上海拥有了三家Hof甜品店。但是成为了大师如此成功的他依然十分的谦逊,他给了学员们很多烘焙的建议,但更多的是鼓励学员们保持住对于烘焙的热情,对于目标的坚持和对于困境的不放弃。

学员们向Brian提了很多的问题,也在Brian的制作展示中受到了很大的启发。在结束的时候,Brian坦言自己被这经过了四年发展的海上青培坊的活力和动力所震撼,而且很为学员们敢于展现自我和提问而高兴。

至于成品的布朗尼是不是那么美味呢?这还用说嘛!

(感谢Kathy的翻译!)