LOOK: Treats on display as top patissiers open PHL’s first pastry academy

The word "gorgeous" is inadequate to describe the pastries Chef Jean Francois Arnaud, Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF), sampled as part of a competition he was invited to judge in a hotel before the opening of his new pastry academy in Makati.

However, the world-class patissier found the taste of the treats inversely proportional to their beauty.

"I feel like I cannot taste anything. [It's] artistic, but no taste. [It should always be] first, it's about the taste; and second, the decoration," Arnaud divulged at the opening of the Academy of Pastry and Bakery Arts last Wednesday.

With successful branches in Malaysia and India, Arnaud and business partner Chef Niklesh Sharma opened the third branch of the academy in the Philippines to address this delectable predicament.

"In the Academy, for sure, we will put the finger on the taste first because the students need to know what's the best way to have the base cake before layering, glazing—you need to taste it. The artistic part is another story. It's not the first thing we want to teach," Arnaud said.

Bakers of all skill levels and background are welcome to enroll either in the three-month certificate or the six-month diploma course in Pastry and Baking.

"[If] you can manage in the class, gel with each other, and you have a good attitude to learn, [it's] perfectly fun. No background, no age group," Sharma said.

Unlike culinary schools where pastries are glossed over and made in kitchens suited for other purposes, the Academy boasts an intensive curriculum that will focus on a single topic per week, offering theory and hands-on experience in making specific pastries or breads.

"The program is very, very hands-on... One week is theory, eleven weeks in the kitchen. So when we say one week in the kitchen, then we [only make] bread. One week, only breakfast pastry, one week, only chocolate," Sharma explained.

He added, "By the time they finish the first three months, when they go to the next level, they know the basics of all the topics."

World-class chefs and instructors from the Academy in Malaysia and Indonesia will also fly in at intervals to keep students engaged and give them specialized training other schools could not provide.

"Let the chef from Malaysia fly to the Philippines. Every few days, there will be a new chef flying in to the Philippines. There will always be two to three chefs here until the time we [find] someone from the country who we can groom up much better," Sharma said.

Short courses or master classes for specific topics are also available for chefs looking to expand their repertoire.

"We do believe that, as of now, there is no pastry school in this country which [offers] this kind of program," Sharma declared.

While their curriculum is impressive, the most intriguing aspect of the training the Academy offers is its focus on how well students can work with others in the kitchen, a deciding factor for most kitchens looking for pastry chefs.

"More than [education]—will you be able to gel with my team? That's more important," said Sharma. "We know you're directly coming from a school. You may have some skills, coming from an academy... but will you be able to manage with my team? That's more important than if you graduate from the school." — BM, GMA News