- Roland Mesnier
Roland Mesnier (born July 8 1944) is a French-American
Pastry chef and culinary writer. His creations during his twenty five years as Executive Pastry Chef (1979-2004) at theWhite House have earned him the reputation of a creativegenius .Early life
Mesnier was born into a family of nine children in the village of Bonnay, France. He first became interested in becoming a chef when he vistited his brother's pastry shop in a nearby city and was delighted by the smell of fresh fruit in the kitchen. His mother secured an
apprentice ship for him when he was fourteen at a pastry shop inBesançon . He would work from 6am to 8pm six days a week and in exchange received 30,000 francs a month, plus room and board, in addition to cooking lessons.Like most young apprentices, Mesnier was only given menial tasks, such as grocery shopping at first to see if he were truly interested in learning the profession. Mesnier stayed on and eventually was taught how to make
cake s,croissant s, andbrioche . He also was first exposed topuff pastry andchocolate molding which laid the groundwork for his future specialties. At 17 he passed his apprenticeship exam and began to look for work that would both enhance his skills and his reputation.Eventually he found his way to
Paris , working in a restaurant and pastry shop near the Opera Garnier. He soon mastered all there was to learn in Paris and on the advice his employer he went toWest Germany where techniques were more advanced. Mesnier lived inHamburg andHanover and learned how to makecake s,cookie s,fondant s, andmarzipan modeling as well as mastering the German and English languages.References
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5982-2004Jun1.html Judith Weinraub, "25 Years in the White House",
Washington Post , 2 June 2004, Page F01]
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