"Sugar Art" products and chocolate works are the necessary items in the international regular large-scale West Point competition, and they are the best means to test the skills and artistic accomplishment of players at West Point. "Sugar art" is mainly formed in high temperature environment. "Sugar" needs to go through many chemical reactions and physical reactions from boiling sugar to finished products, and will be interfered by many factors. Only after a period of scientific training and practice can the operator master some basic modeling techniques such as pulling, pulling, blowing and dipping, and feel the "attribute" of sugar.
Sugar art used to be called "sugar worker", and one was a popular "sugar blower" in society. The raw material used is mainly self-cooked maltose (also known as invert sugar), and the sugar body is brown at room temperature. After breaking, heat it slowly and then set it quickly. The main raw material for cooking maltose is starch, and the masters have their own unique recipes and cooking methods. They don't have special equipment and utensils for boiling maltose, but use simple clay pots and stoves. The whole process is judged by experience, so the operator must be careful and constantly sum up experience. Most people who "blow" sugar are folk artists. In the cold winter or dry season, they carry stoves, walk the streets and peddle along the streets. They heated the candy to a suitable temperature, pulled it off, kneaded it into a ball, pressed a deep pit with a little starch with their forefinger, tightened the outer mouth, pulled it out quickly, and suddenly broke the candy bar when it reached a certain fineness. At this time, the candy bar is like a thin tube, which immediately expands and forms with its mouth. The whole operation process has to go through hard training, the technique should be accurate, and the modeling should be concise and vivid. The inheritance of this skill is also relatively traditional, generally in the family (or village) as a unit, from men to women. This process is common in northern China, where the climate is cool and dry and there is an environment suitable for sugar makers. There are very few people engaged in this craft now, and there are people performing during the Spring Festival and temple fairs, which belong to the more traditional programs in folk customs. The reason why the sugar blower is ignored is very simple: first, although the sugar blower blown out of his mouth belongs to sugar products, it can only be seen but not eaten, which does not meet the hygiene requirements; Second, sugar products are easy to dissolve and cannot be preserved as ornamental products for a relatively long time; Third, the selected materials are monotonous in color and plain in texture.
The second is boiled with sucrose and glucose. The texture of the finished product is different from caramel. After color matching, the color is rich and bright, and the hardness is enhanced. In an air-conditioned environment, it is not affected by seasons, and can be processed at any time as needed, which has obvious edibility and decoration. It is the best foil to set off the atmosphere and improve the food grade. Mostly used for high-end cocktail parties and large-scale competitions. Among the older generation of West Point masters, many amazing works were made with a pair of dexterous hands. At that time, the production conditions were extremely simple and the quality of sugar was relatively rough. Behind a successful work, there is countless sweat. Under this condition, there are few masters engaged in sugar production, and only a few descendants have been handed down. After ten years of catastrophe, the country opened wide, and this technology has gone far in developed countries, and the materials for making sugar bodies are also more extensive. It is easy to buy candy flowers, flower baskets, cartoon candy and other finished or semi-finished products in the market, and even reach the level of on-site production.
China's first sugar man, China sugar master Cao Jitong.
Born in Beijing, 65438-0963 is a senior technician at West Point, a famous baker in China, a national appraiser, an international culinary master and an international judge. Now he is the president of Beijing Jinuogao Food Technology Promotion Center, the general manager of Jinuogao Bakery, a well-known baking expert in China, the technical director of master baking, the chairman of Bakers Club, and a special professional tutor of Tourism College.
1983 graduated from western food professional school, worked as an apprentice in Beijing Great Wall Hotel for 5 years, and then moved to international hotel, China World Hotel and Kempinski Hotel as a five-star hotel chef 15 years. During this period, I went to Italy, the Netherlands and other professional colleges for further study.
He has been in business for 25 years. From 65438 to 0997, he founded Jinuogao Bakery to provide food for high-end hotels, embassies and international schools, and successfully established the "Sunshine Helen" cake chain store, which has a high reputation in Beijing.
In many cooking competitions, he achieved brilliant results and won many honors. In addition, during his busy schedule, he also wrote books such as Selected Bread 145 and Sugar Art, participated in the compilation of the book Western Pastry Craft, and was selected as "Contemporary China Skilled Craftsman" and "Classic of World Excellent Experts", which was reported by CCTV and other media.
Especially in the field of sugar art, he devoted himself to research for many years and published the first hardcover book "Sugar Art" in China, which completely revealed the mystery of sugar art production, with informative content, accurate formula and beautiful pictures. At the same time, it also opened the first sugar art training school in China to develop economical and practical sugar art tools. According to statistics, there are more than 200 individual disciples all over the country, and their achievements are very impressive. He was called the chief "master of sugar art" in China and "the first person of sugar art in China" by the media.