Learn from top pastry chefs

Professional Bakers and Chefs take note – here’s your chance to learn new skills from two world renowned pastry chefs.

Pastry chefs Thomas Haas and Pastry Chef En-Ming Hsu are offering a professional pastry seminar at Vancouver Island University September 19 from 10 am to 4 pm.

“The seminar is aimed at working professionals in the pastry field, but if there's room, we will open the seminar to anyone," said Debbie Shore, coordinator of VIU’s Culinary Institute of Vancouver Island. “It’s a great way to learn new ideas for your menus.”

The seminar will be held in the food lab at VIU’s Nanaimo campus. Only 50 seats are available. Tickets cost $85 per person.

Haas is a fourth generation pastry professional who grew up helping out in his family's pastry shop in the Black Forest village of Aichhalden. He trained in the classic German tradition and then went on to gain exposure to other flavors and techniques starting with travels to Switzerland, Austria and France. Beginning at the age of sixteen, Haas apprenticed for three and a half years in a fine pastry shop in nearby Gengenbach.

After earning his masters degree in hospitality and pastry, Haas became the Pastry Chef at Café Pâtisserie Endle in Karlsruhe. Upon receiving a scholarship from the Rotary Club of Germany, he traveled to Brazil to train pastry cooks and chefs in German pastry techniques and shop management.

In 1993, Haas entered the world of five star hotels, becoming the Executive Pastry Chef first at The Belvèdere and then The Jöhris Talvo, both in Switzerland, before being lured to Canada. From 1995 through 1998, he served as Executive Pastry Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver.

During his three year tenure at this prestigious hotel, Haas participated in regional Canadian pastry contests as well as in the annual North American Pastry Chef of the Year competition in New York City, where he finished amongst the top three finalists two years in a row (1997 and 1998).

Meanwhile, Pastry Chef En-Ming Hsu is also a consummate professional in the world of pastry. This Richmond, Virginia native is a graduate of the highly regarded Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York. Upon graduation, Hsu's career began at the famed Lespinasse restaurant in New York City and then Patisserie Café Didier in Washington, DC.

However, it was not until she joined The Ritz-Carlton Chicago (a Four Seasons property) in 1994 and served as Executive Pastry Chef from 1996 to 2004 did Hsu truly establish herself while also garnering numerous awards recognizing her extraordinary talent, skill and passion in pastry. In 1997, Hsu took Pastisfrance’s “Best Pastry Chef of the Year in America Gold Medal.” Then in 1998 for five consecutive years she was selected as “Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America” or “Best Pastry Chef in Chicago.”

While serving as captain, Hsu's team took the Gold Medal at the 2001 Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie (Pastry World Cup) in Lyon, France. One of her team mates was VIU Professional baking graduate,  Derek Poirier who hailed from Nanoose Bay, BC. Since her departure from The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, Hsu is now a pastry chef consultant based in the Las Vegas, Nevada area while also serving as President of Team USA for the 2007 Pastry World Cup competition in Lyon, France this January.

To sign up for this prestigious pastry seminar at VIU, please email nick@dvcuisine.com or Debbie.shore@viu.ca or call 1-250-746-4510 or 1-250-740-6137.