A delicious story - part 2

 Mastering temperature was the great advance in the twentieth century, along with the understanding of the chemical and biological elements contained within certain products. New flavours and textures were developed.

Gaston Lenôtre was extraordinarily innovative and the man of the century with regards to pâtisserie. He also created the first chain of upscale bakeries in Paris, a bakery-café bistro in the first French shopping mall, the first professional French re-training chef school, the first line of frozen desserts distributed all over France, and the first International bakery franchises - now in a dozen countries. He wrote nine recipe books and catered for Olympic teams,Kings, Presidents and celebraties all over the world. And was one of the main inspirations for the character Gusteau in the film Ratatouille. He died in 2009.

These days it is the likes of Pierre Hermé, Philippe Andrieu, Christophe Michalak and Christophe Adam, who lead the way, revisiting classic French pâtisserie and extending the flavours and textures well beyond France's borders - the Paul chain of boulangeries being an example, for which both Pierre Hermé and Philippe Andrieu have worked. Paul was founded in 1889 and now belongs to the Holder Group, which also owns the luxury bakery Ladurée. I used to visit a Paul in Convent Garden, when I was working in the theatre. These days Paul have extended into motorway services, so we time our stops to take advantage of their delicious pâtisserie, salads or sandwiches.  

A few classics and their stories: Le Saint-Honoré is typical of the 19th century in being named after a Saint. In this instance the Patron Saint of boulangers. It was created in 1850 by Chilboust a famous parisien pâtissier who had set up in rue Saint Honoré. Some of the best Saint-Honoré are made by Dalloyau in Paris, who is also responsible for L'Opéra, which was created in 1955. It takes its name from a prima ballerina and some young ballet students who would go there for tea and to taste the delicious cakes and pastries.

Le Paris-Brest was created by Louis Durand in 1910 in hommage to the Paris-Brest-Paris cycle race, which began in 1891 and was last run in 1951. The round shape was meant to represent a bicycle wheel. Choux pastry and praline cream.

Le Financier was created in the Middle Ages in an oval shape by the sisters of the Order of the Visitation. It wasn't particularly appreciated until the late 1800s when the pâtissier Lasne brought the little cake 'up-to-date'. Being based near to the Paris Stock Exchange and as his clientele were primarily money-men, Lasne had the idea of renaming the cake Le Financier and reshaping it into a rectangle, representing a gold ingot.


All these amazing ideas and technical skill, and here I am just coming to grips with the method for omelette making, using an electric hob as opposed to gas, which I'd been cooking with for years. It's electricity for us now both sides of the Channel. Ah well!!!