SC - Cookery-Art or Science

[The Cheshire Cat]

>At 06:41 1/21/99 , you wrote:
>
>>	Baking (and all 'Pastry Sciences', to borrow a phrase from Homer
>>Simpson) is a Science.  Chemical reactions needed to take place need
>>accurate measurement and temperatures to insure a consistant product.
>>"That looks like enough baking powder (yeast, salt, egg, soda, etc.)"
>>would not do for recipies dependent on the right proportions of said
>>ingredients to react correctly.
>
>I disagree--I always use the "that looks about right" method of
>baking--yes, chemical reactions need to take place, but there is much more
>margin for error than you are implying!  To me baking is an art!  Now--if I
>needed to do mass production and needed to get the _exact_ same result
>every time, then it wouldn't be an art anymore, but mere drudgery...
>
>--Kareina

As a pastry chef, I have to consider the 'pastry sciences' as a cross
between an art and a science.  You do, in some respects have a little bit
of 'that looks about right, or at least I do  (my instructor just flipped
in his grave, and he's not even dead yet!!!) so in some respects it is an
art, but you can't afford to get too arty-farty with it without seriously
affecting the end result, you have to exercise a little bit of caution
since a lot of the ingredients are needed in their particular amounts for
the various (correct) reactions to occur.
 I know a lot of chefs who practice the 'seat of the pants' style of baking
and quite often the end result is nothing compared to what it should be
(sometimes the end result is delicious, but not always).  Yes, it's
experimentation, but the trick it to know the limitations of the recipe,
you are carving up.  Sometimes a little too much art, is just too much art.

Just my 2c worth
- -Sianan


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