WHEN I BEGAN MY APPRENTICESHIP with Jean Clauss, my first task was producing very large quantities of pastry cream We made batches at the pâtisserie using 8 to 10 quarts of milk each time The big copper pot we used was 12 inches tall and once it was on the stove it came up to the top of my chest I was tall for my age, but I still had to reach my arm over the top to stir On my first day a second-year apprentice, Claude Lorentz, showed me how it was done I was familiar with pastry cream, as my father made it at his bakery and I loved to eat it, but I didn’t know how to make it Not for long On my first try, I poured the tempered egg mixture back into the pot but didn’t begin whisking quickly enough and the milk and egg mixture seized Because I hadn’t given the eggs a chance to coagulate slowly, my first pastry cream was on the dry side, like dry scrambled eggs I was faster on the second try, but whisking such a big pot of pastry cream was difficult Claude had helped me stir the first time, but the second time he conveniently disappeared just as I was pouring in the egg mixture The pastry cream began to seize up, and I had to whisk faster than fast, reaching down to the bottom of the pot so that it didn’t scorch and burn (which it did) Lorentz had disappeared because he wanted me to develop a sense of urgency; I had to understand that I couldn’t be casual about whisking the ingredients over heat A sense of urgency is important in a pastry kitchen It took me three or four more times making pastry cream until I was ... try, but whisking such a big pot of pastry cream was difficult Claude had helped me stir the first time, but the second time he conveniently disappeared just as I was pouring in the egg mixture The pastry cream began to... enough and the milk and egg mixture seized Because I hadn’t given the eggs a chance to coagulate slowly, my first pastry cream was on the dry side, like dry scrambled eggs I was faster on the second... familiar with pastry cream, as my father made it at his bakery and I loved to eat it, but I didn’t know how to make it Not for long On my first try, I poured the tempered egg mixture back into the pot but didn’t