Onion and Feta Scone Schooling

I have to admit that if all financial and other obstacles were removed from my educational goals, I would love to earn a certificate from the culinary arts professional baking program at VIU.  My interest in the science of cooking comes quite naturally to me, and as I stated in my original blog entry, I have won several awards for my baking.  Perhaps this education would only fuel my unrealistic fantasy of having a commercial-grade kitchen--complete with Hobart appliances--in my own home, but for now I will have to settle for a little bit of imagination now and then.  Perhaps this imagination is why I like to sample the wares of the current baking students and decide what I would do if I were in their chef whites.  Take, for example, the onion and feta scone that I ate a few weeks ago.

After having a few moments of discussion with my classmates over the differences between a tea biscuit and a scone, and what is the most efficient shape of a tea biscuit or scone (this is where an education in pastry would have come in handy), I finally was able to bite into the flaky creation.  The texture was layered perfectly and neither under-baked nor over-baked.  As for the flavour, I was certain that I had purchased an onion and feta scone, so why did I not taste either?  A few more bites eventually revealed a mild taste of onion.  As for the feta, I only had one bite of the whole scone that contained a small piece of what appeared to be grated feta.  I am sorry to say that the flavour was disappointing. 

As stated above, I like to sample the wares of the current baking students and mentally tweak the recipes.  If I were to revamp this recipe I would add some onion powder to the dry ingredients, just to give it that extra flavour without adding the moisture or acid that one would get from fresh onion.  Additionally, I would use more feta and I would make it cubed so that there are larger pieces to bring out the briny flavour that should be complementing the onion.  Of course, this is my own recipe tweak. As for the one at VIU, we shouldn’t expect that to change, since it is common knowledge that institutional chefs don’t like to alter their recipes.  It’s still a well-made scone, but I can’t recommend it due to its understated flavors.

Speaking of the professional baking program, I would like to mention that if any readers of this blog are interested in encouraging the professional baking students to further their education, feel free to donate a few dollars to their Paris trip.  Yes, the baking students hope to go to France and learn more about chocolate and pastries.  Can you blame them?  I even asked one of them about the instructive part of the itinerary for this trip, and it was worth it just to see her smile from ear-to-ear as she spoke about what she hoped to learn in France.  I have to agree that this is a fabulous opportunity for them.  After all, what is more educational to a baking student than discovering how a real French pastry chef makes a real croissant?  

Sadly, I will not be joining the baking students in France, but at least I will still have my fantasy of someday owning commercial grade kitchen appliances in my home.  On that note, I would like to remind the baking instructors that there is a superfluous industrial sheeter resting in the lower cafeteria that would look even more beautiful if it had a tag on it with my name and a big red bow…