Things I Learned from a Pastry Chef
Rachel Schwartz Fagan
8 pages
https://www.instagram.com/word.tonic.press/
https://linktr.ee/rachel.schwartz.fagan
Things I Learned from a Pastry Chef is a quarter-sized, black and white illustrated zine of tips that Rachel learned from a pastry chef.
I loved baking and eating baked goods of all sorts, so does that make this zine even more of a comfort read?
Things I Learned from a Pastry Chef opens non-traditionally by holding it in landscape orientation and opening from bottom to top. On the inside front cover, we get all the details for Rachel, including when and where the zine was printed. (I like these details because someday I shall make a big map with all kinds of info on zines read, sent, and received.)
From there we jump right in with the tips, starting with a lemon zest tip that seems so simple but I know would have a big impact on the flavour of whatever baked good called for it. We also get tips on everything from handling eggs, to dealing with garlic, to even a handy top on getting even slices when slicing bread.
Each page has its own handdrawn border and accompanying illustration/s, which makes a cosy zine about a cosy subject make me smile all the more. And crave some banana bread, but that’s an aside.
I was totally in the mood today for a zine that would invite me to learn something, and Things I Learned from a Pastry Chef absolutely provided that. If I know anything about baking, it’s that small steps done in the right way can make a huge impact on what you end up creating. Not only did I appreciate the shared tips, I also appreciated the little things Rachel included like the drawings and the wavy border on each page to add visual interest.
Things I Learned from a Pastry Chef is a zine going in my forever collection and a fairly quick read I think you’ll enjoy.