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baking

Workshops available with world-class baker Chef Ciril Hitz

by David Dadekian June 18, 2012

Chef Ciril Hitz demonstrates window pane dough test

Interested in baking but don’t really know where to start? Or, like me, have tried your hand at baking many times but never really gotten results that have satisfied you? Check out the workshop schedule at the Breadhitz Baking Facility just outside of Providence. Breadhitz is Chef Ciril Hitz’s company “with the mission to make baking education accessible to anyone, anywhere.” Hitz teaches at Johnson & Wales University and the headline is not exaggerating when calling him a world-class baker. From Hitz’s bio:

Chef Ciril Hitz teaches full-time at the International Baking & Pastry Institute at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Ciril received his artistic education at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Industrial Design. Upon graduating, he completed a 3-year Pastry/Chocolate apprenticeship in his native Switzerland.
He competed at the 2004 National Bread and Pastry Team Championship in Atlantic City where his two-person team won 1st place overall and he captured all three of the individual bread awards.
In 2002 he represented the USA as a member of the Bread Bakers Guild Team and competed at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, Paris, France, where the team took home the Silver Medal.
Chef Hitz has been a guest instructor/expert at many national and international culinary events and schools and is actively involved with the Bread Bakers Guild of America. His work has been featured on the NBC Today Show, The Food Network, and Ciao Italia!

I’ve had the pleasure of being a guest at a couple of Hitz’s baking workshops at his home in rural Rehoboth. Hitz is a friend, but I honestly cannot recommend his classes enough. I’ve learned more about baking from him and his two books than anything else I’ve studied. Hitz recently posted that there are still spaces available for his “Half-and-Half Artisan Breads” workshop this coming Sunday, June 24, but if you can’t make that one there are almost a dozen more workshops scheduled through the rest of the year, as well as other classes Hitz teaches around the northeast. Reserve a place now before they all sell out.

Below are a few photos from Breadhitz workshops.

Hitz teaching at his Breadhitz facility

Chef Ciril Hitz

Challah bread, baked during a class, in the wood-burning oven Hitz built

June 18, 2012 0 comment

chefs & restaurants news

Gracie’s & Miriam Hospital Make Gingerbread Decorating Kits to Help Families in Need

by David Dadekian December 9, 2011

written by David Dadekian

Components of the Gracie's Gingerbread Man Decorating Kit (icing tube not shown)

Looking for a fun gift, that’s also a craft project for a child (or adult), helps out families in need and is completely delicious? Then you’ll want to get over to The Miriam Hospital in Providence where for the next few weeks you can purchase a deluxe gingerbread man or woman decorating kit, freshly baked from Gracie’s restaurant kitchen, with 100% of the proceeds benefiting families in need.

Gracie’s Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark oversees the baking and kit building process and I visited the kitchen during cookie kit production for all the gingerbread information. Denmark told me they’re making 150 pounds of cookie dough to produce 1,000 cookies this year, up from 700 cookies sold last year. Gracie’s has also purchased 36 pounds of decorating candy which includes red & green sprinkles, gumdrops, mini-chocolate chips and more. Then there’s also 1000 packages of icing (which wasn’t in yet when these photos were made) which will come in easy-to-squeeze tubes.

eat drink RI: This is the second year for the gingerbread decorating kit project. How did it come about and who does it benefit?

Melissa Denmark: Our good friend Joe Conlan, Co-Director of Men’s Health at Miriam Hospital, approached Ellen [Gracyalny, Gracie’s owner] with the idea last year. The proceeds go to families in the local community. Joe works with a liaison in the community who matches this project with families in need. They come up with a list of goods that are needed. At the end of the project we take all the funds and go to Target and Kohl’s and have a big shopping spree to present to these families, which is such a nice, warm feeling.

edRI: How does the process work?

MD: Production is divided into three realms. We have the cookie production, which starts with Danielle [Lowe] and I making a big batch of gingerbread cookies over and over again. We roll those out and stamp them out and we bake them in waves depending on Joe’s sales at the hospital. Then we get the staff here at Gracie’s involved. They are helping us package all the little goodies, all the candies, all the icing—we have a variety of six different candies and icing that we tuck away into packages.

Then it all gets picked up by Joe. This year, the actual box assembly with tissue paper and ribbon is happening over at Miriam Hospital. Joe is the conductor of this project and has invited all of his elves over at the hospital to help with the packaging. He has about 10-15 people involved. [The kits] are sold in the cafeteria to gain buzz from the staff at the hospital and they’re also selling them at the entrance of the hospital.

edRI: What’s included in each kit?

MD: You get one giant gingerbread cookie, two ounces of icing and six bags of candies for $8. It’s a really fun project to do. It’s a lot of work, but it’s exciting because it gets a lot of different people involved, and it’s during the season when everybody has all this spirit and it’s good to give back.

from left to right: Danielle Lowe, Pat Philbin, Melissa Denmark and Jordan Goldsmith, volunteering time to roll out and cut gingerbread men and women

The completed Gingerbread Men or Women Decorating Kits, available at Miriam Hospital

Gracie's Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark working with the gingerbread dough

Rolling out the gingerbread cookie dough

Danielle Lowe cutting the gingerbread dough into men

Jordan Goldsmith (left) and Melissa Denmark (right) working with the gingerbread dough

Jordan Goldsmith cutting the rolled dough into men

Pat Philbin moves the cut out shapes to cookie sheets for baking

Cut out gingerbread women

Close-ups on the supplied candy components of the decorating kits

A completed kit

Gingerbread cookies, nicknamed Ginger and Fred, at Gracie's

December 9, 2011 0 comment

chefs & restaurants news

Gracie’s Star Chefs Series with Chef Ciril Hitz – August 8, 2011

by David Dadekian August 4, 2011

written by David Dadekian

Chef Ciril Hitz adding wood to the wood-burning oven outside Gracie’s

People who follow my writing (or actually follow me on Facebook or Twitter) know that I eat very well. Because of that, there are very few dinners that I would be upset to miss. The annual pairing of Chef Ciril Hitz, world-renowned baker and department chair of the International Baking and Pastry Institute at Johnson and Wales University, and Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga is something I put on my personal calendar as soon as a date is announced. It’s honestly that good. The past two years have brought us dishes involving perfectly fire-roasted lamb saddle and beautifully baked vegetables just-kissed with smoke. Then there’s the bread. It should go without saying that one of the best bakers in the world makes some delicious yeasty, wood-baked bread. For the past two Star Chefs dinners Hitz spent the day before and morning of baking scores of several kinds of rolls and loaves. Diners even got to take some home at the end of the night—a highlight that my wife Brenda treasured almost more than the meal itself.

Hitz is also as good a teacher as he is a baker, my own experience being that I never baked bread as good as I could until I learned about it from Ciril. He has two books, Baking Artisan Breads and Baking Artisan Pastries & Breads and teaches classes outside of J&W University at his home in Rehoboth. For his Star Chefs dinners at Gracie’s Hitz brings a mobile wood-fired oven with him and parks it outside the restaurant to prepare the dishes that he and Chef Varga develop together. I’ve become friendly with Hitz as well as many of the staff at Gracie’s, but I’m not exaggerating to say it will be one extraordinary dinner on August 8.

Below are a few of the many photos I’ve made with Chef Hitz over the last few years. Following the photos is the full press release for the Star Chefs dinner. I hope to see you there.

Whole lobe of foie gras roasted in the wood-fired oven

Chef Ciril Hitz with his wood-fired oven at his home

Chef Ciril Hitz demonstrating the preparation of a pastry dough at his home teaching kitchen

Ciril Hitz, renowned baker and department chair of the International Baking and Pastry Institute at Johnson and Wales University, returns to Gracie’s on Monday, August 8, to partake in the restaurant’s Star Chef Series. Working closely with Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga, Hitz will deliver unique and savory dishes cooked to perfection in his wood-fired oven.
A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Hitz has had his award-winning artisan bread and pastry featured on The Today Show and The Food Network and has been nationally and internationally recognized for his mastery of the art of baking. As he typically does when he is baking away from his kitchen, Ciril will bring his wood-fired oven to Gracie’s for the August 8 Star Chef dinner. He will set it up just outside of Gracie’s and cook in the open air, creating dishes with sumptuous, smoky flavors.
Ellen Gracyalny, owner of Gracie’s, eagerly awaits Hitz’s return. “We are so very lucky to have Ciril return to Gracie’s for a third time. He and Matt have developed a strong rapport and have really hit a groove with respect to collaborating on a meal. The fact that Ciril brings his own wood-fired oven to Gracie’s to stay true to his craft is especially exciting and is something that all of our guests get to enjoy.”
Now in its third year, the Star Chef Series combines the talents of extraordinary chefs from across the country with the Gracie’s team. Under direction from Varga, the Star Chef and the Gracie’s team craft an exceptional five-course menu that is expertly paired with wine. The informal and intimate format of Gracie’s Star Chef dinners allow the chefs to step away from the kitchen from time to time and talk with guests about the meal and their experience.
“This year’s event with Ciril is a terrific opportunity for diners to experience the lost art of breadmaking and the unique dishes that we can create in his wood-fired stove,” explained Varga. “The aroma of slow roasted dishes is quite intoxicating and our diners, along with many of our neighbors in Providence, will get to see, smell and taste Ciril’s exceptional work. “I’m also excited that Ciril is bringing his Swiss background to the dinner,” Varga added. “He’ll be incorporating Rillette Cheese into this Star Chef dinner.”
Although the full menu is not announced until the night of the event, Varga has released a sneak peek of the first two courses. Heirloom Tomato Tart will begin the meal, prepared with wood-roasted onions, mozzarella and garden basil. Smoked Duck Ham will follow, offering fig mostarda, spicy greens and a pretzel roll.
The cost for each five-course dinner (paired with wine) is $100. To learn more or to make a reservation (number of participants is limited), visit www.graciesprov.com or call 401-272-7811.

August 4, 2011 0 comment

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