Class Time

I don't go to many classes as a student.  I just don't have the time.  However, I made time for a set of two classes at Shubie's in Marblehead.  Let me give you some history.  I grew up in Marblehead, MA, and I worked at Shube's supermarket - the owner of Shube's Supermarket is a relative of the current owner's of Shubie's.  Of course, working at Shube's meant that I also knew the owners of Shubie's (then just a liquor store).  Also in Marblehead, MA was this AMAZING French Master Baker.  I don't remember when Delphin Gomes opened his French Pastry Shop on Washington Street, but I remember the pastry really well.  Delphin is a Master French Pastry Chef, trained in France.  His pastries are one of a kind.  I remember my mom serving the pastries on special occasions.  One of my favorite pastries was a round chocolate mousse and raspberry mousse pastry.  Amazing.  I still remember it years later.

Years later he closed the shop to join the Cambridge Culinary School and to open his own pastry school.  Sadly, the shop wasn't a place where you could pick up dessert for that night.  But I never forgot those pastries.

This year, my mom sent me an email from Shubie's stating that Chef Gomes was teaching some classes at their store.  I signed up for the French Pastry and French Fillings and Custards.  Sadly the Chocolate Classes were on days that I could not attend.

My mom and I attended two Monday night classes.  Delphin is the type of guy that teaches you alot, and both nights the two hour class was well over three hours.  On the first night, we learned about sweet dough, regular dough, puff pastry dough, and we made them all!  We learned how to make individual tartlets and smaller pastries.  He taught us a few secrets.

The second night was amazing - chocolate mousse, raspberry mousse, lemon cream, brown butter, Almond cream and more.  We spent the night stirring, cooking and tasting lovely creams to fill our tarts.  He taught us how to arrange the fruit nicely on top on the creams.

I really enjoyed learning from a Master Chef who has a great sense of humor.  It was a long ride to Marblehead and back again (twice), but I am sure my family will benefit from what I learned. 

I included a few photos.  The first is the apricot tartlets.  The second is Chef Gomes filling little boats with almond cream, and the last is a classmate completing the lemon tarts with Italian Meringue.