Category: Pazaz Bakeware

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Jack’s Story

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Pazaz Premium Bakeware

How PAZAZ™ Came To Be

I’ve been in the restaurant business most of my life. I started working at a French restaurant in Tiburon California (The Caprice) when I was very young. Years later, after college, I became a partner in a restaurant (Epanoui), also in Tiburon. While I was there, Epanoui was voted as one of the top ten restaurants in the entire country by Time-Life Books. Following that unique experience, I left California on a new culinary journey.

After working as a manager/maitre’d in south Florida (The Plum Room) I went to upstate New York and worked at L’uberge Du Cygne in Manlius New York. I heard of a chef in upstate New York with a famous reputation and that is when I went on a quest to work with one of the greatest chefs in the world. This is when I met and worked with chef Joel Chenet who had been the Chef at the French Consulate in Paris France and prepared food for the President of France.

Missing California and my family I traveled back home and got a job working as the lead captain at Amelio’s under executive chef Jackie Robert in San Francisco (check out New York Times article in 1987, “ FOOD; KNOWING NO BOUNDARY”).

I had the pleasure of working with chef Jackie Robert whom prepared one of the inaugural dinner’s for President Ronald Reagan. With that experience I then eventually became the General Manager at Masons in the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. After that I was in charge of all the restaurants at the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill, including room service and the Top of the Mark.

Now I work for Chef Jean George Vongerichten in Las Vegas, and have decided to take my culinary expertise into the very products that help produce “World Class Cuisine”.

The Heavy Duty Aluminum Baking Sheet Pan, Non-Stick Baking Mat, and the Steel Mesh Cooling Rack are examples of my exhaustive search for quality merchandise. I had these products custom made to my specifications, with the knowledge I have attained over the years through my apprenticeship with world-class chefs and the focus associated with every aspect of the creation of a dish.

In the world of the culinary arts the tools that you use help produce the “Magic” associated with dishes that captivate the mind, stimulate the palate, and test the very boundaries of the “dining experience”. It is with this attention to detail and commitment to excellence that I bring you my brand, “PAZAZ”.

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‘Mise en Place’ – PAZAZ™ Style

Mise en Place means (in French) “everything in its place”.

Preparing anything requires thought and strategy. In this case we will be talking about the preparation of a meal.

In the world of the culinary arts it is important to plan the meal ahead of time. This planning requires a blueprint for execution which will include but not be limited to chopping, slicing, dicing, thawing, mixing, grilling, frying, baking, and of course the most important item… the timing. Integrated into this all important strategy are the tools you are using to execute this important creation.

PAZAZ ™products offer you the highest quality non-stick silicone baking mat, heavy duty aluminum baking sheet pan, and of course the steel mesh cooling rack for the most effective production of either sweet of savory foods. Using the highest quality kitchen tools from PAZAZ ™ ensures your sweet or savory dish will be afforded the opportunity to cook evenly without sticking.

This process begins in the store as you’ve determined the recipe and now search for the organic ingredients to execute the recipe. Sometimes your recipe will change depending upon what organic produce and meats are available. Not only will it change based upon whats available but also the quality of the products your searching for.

After the ingredients have been purchased you must determine the time line for adding the ingredients so that they will exhibit the profile your looking for. Each ingredient takes on a life of its own because in this part of the process lies the technique that moves the recipe from good to great.

With each ingredient the chefs ability to add vinegars, salt and pepper to taste, other key spices, maybe a marinade helps the dish take on a beautiful complexity. This revelation of flavor highlights not just one flavor but a myriad of layers of flavors that elevates the dish from super to sublime.

When the chef has “everything in its place” the process of manufacturing the event becomes a soliloquy to the audience without a voice. The internal clock does not speed up during the creation of the meal because the careful orchestration and preparation becomes a testimonial to the caring and thought that makes any meal a special occasion.

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Quality and the Art of PAZAZ

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Bake The Best – Pazaz Premium Bakeware

In the land of blogs and infomercials we tend to get lost if the message is too long and the product not to our immediate needs. The beauty of the Art of PAZAZ™ is the ability to find those that demand from the products we buy the inalienable right to the best quality available.

Yesterday I got a call from a dear friend that had purchased the combo PAZAZ™ Baking Sheet, Cooling Rack, and Baking mat. He has been a professional baker and was interested to test what I had told him are the best products available.

Now in the framework of an infomercial this would be a perfect time to dial the caller on line one and discuss their success with the product. Unfortunately because of limited time and money I can only tell you second hand what my friend (the baker) relayed to me.

He said, “I typically bake with the sheet pans I’ve been using for years. The problem was that the cookies at the back of the pan would cook faster then those in the front of the pan. Because of this one set of cookies would be overdone and the cookies in the front would be underdone. However, when I used your PAZAZ™ Baking Mat inside of the Cookie Sheet Pan it was Magic! The cookies cooked evenly and all I had to do was leave them alone for the allotted time and bingo… they were perfect.”

“In addition to that, I didn’t have to place any aluminum foil inside the cookie sheet pan or spray with an oil or other product to prevent sticking. Because of the silicone baking mat I could easily extract the cookies and enjoy the perfect product I’ve been looking for all these years. Bravo to PAZAZ™ and the wonderful products you produce.”

It is with great joy I relay this story to you, the customer, as I enjoy the satisfaction of producing the most amazing baking tools for home or commercial use.

Speaking of which, I also want to mention that because of the quality of the PAZAZ™ products, our baking mats are now being used at Jean George Steakhouse in Las Vegas under the umbrella of three star Michelin chef Jean George.

Thank you for your support and encouragement from all of us at PAZAZ™.

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PAZAZ ™ “The Heart of the Recipe is in your Ability to Create.”

To develop a wonderful recipe you must first determine the desired effect.pazaz premium bakewareYou must then add your experience, your skill set, time frame, and goal of your creation.

If your goal is to wow people that is one thing, if it is to prepare a dinner, lunch or breakfast for your family… that is another.

As we evolve within the frame work of our capabilities and within the parameters of kitchen exploration we become comfortable with what was once uncomfortable. A recipe is merely a guide line to execute a communication into a living breathing dish. This dish (if the recipe is followed to a tee) can make you feel your creative juices flow, and then the possibility for success grows exponentially.

Bringing a smile to those that watch the chef create involves a connection to the process and then the guests become a part of the experience. Using the PAZAZ ™ kitchen products makes the likely hood for a successful dining event almost a certainty.

I have been involved in the restaurant business for many years. I can attest to the importance of each and every ingredient and the kitchen tools you use tying together as one for the desired winning result. Purchasing certified organic produce, quality wild caught fish, and even organic meat brings the flavors together in perfect harmony.

As a kid I remember my grandmother making apple pie with apples from her tree. I couldn’t identify then why everything tasted so much better… but today I can. Not only was this truly organic (as my grandmother and grandfather never used pesticides) but there was the unidentifiable ingredient that bound this composition together, love.

My parents were musically inclined and so was my grandmother. They would play the piano, organ, and violin as an ensemble to accompany our amazing desert. I didn’t realize how blessed I was to enjoy world class entertainment within the confines of the living room. Each bite made me wish the taste and experience would never end.

This experience motivated me to study violin and enlist that teaching into cooking, and cooking into the business I bring to you, PAZAZ ™.

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PAZAZ ™ – “The Magic of Cooking”

Cooking Is Like A Concert

cooking is like a concert - pazaz bakeware

Within this concert of kitchen wizardry lies the skill of connecting ingredients in a symphony of flavors that will dazzle the palate and stimulate the senses.

Through-out time food has been a conduit between family and friends bringing dialogue, joy, and laughter to very special occasions centered around culture and religion. Every culture has its mantra of dishes that are high-lighted at certain festive events.

From tail gate parties at football games, Thanksgiving, and a myriad of other important social interactions the moment that smile comes to your face that brings you back to a wonderful memory… the connection is made.

This is how PAZAZ ™ was born. Quality based products that are orchestrated to produce the finest recipes passed down from generation to generation.

It is with this first blog that I enter these products into the realm of outstanding culinary kitchen tools that will withstand the most rigorous tests within the parameters as shown on the PAZAZ ™ product site.

PAZAZ ™ will bring a smile to your face as you open the package and see the complimentary cook book and the wonderful products you’ve purchased.

If you have an issue with any product packaged and sent to your door by PAZAZ ™ we would hope you reach out to me first – my name is Jack – and I will take care of your problem ASAP.

Because, without fine customer service we would be just like any other company… and that we are not.

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Family, Friends, and Food – The Art of Connection

pazaz bakeware
Pazaz Premium Bakeware

In the spirit of PAZAZ ™ I would like you to realize the importance of connection.

So many times in this life we disconnect from humanity with our focus on material items and devices. We stare at cell phones many times in places that used to be sources of joy for human interaction.

Restaurants, family outings, over even the walk to school or work. These were typically places that humanity played an important role. It is with this observation that I would like to continue in the vein of “connection” and the beauty and importance that cooking, preparing food, and the orchestration of a meal becomes one of the last bastions for association, kinship, and relationship.

I have been in the food industry my whole life giving more than just mouth service to creating an amazing dining experience.

PAZAZ ™ products are designed to enlist years of experience in the restaurant business at a very high level and interact these tools with chefs to help them prepare dishes from the heart, connecting to the mind, and propelling a meal into the realm of “experience by which all others are judged”.

Or quite simply, bringing a smile to your face, a memory to your soul, or a person to your heart.

As family we still connect with food. The love that goes into the preparation of a dish cannot be googled, twittered, or even instagrammed. This love is the driving force beyond the PAZAZ ™ products.

In a moment of pure joy the connection between the Heavy Duty Aluminum Cookie Sheet, the Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat, and the Steel Mesh Cooling Rack becomes apparent. These are products that go well beyond the expectations of most consumers and provide an easy rapport between savory or sweet and the final preparation of the meal.

PAZAZ ™ is more than a brand. As you use these products your connectivity with the product you prepare becomes even more joyful.

PAZAZ ™ products can help make at least one part of your life become easier and certainly more delightful.