Pastry Chef Mohammed Kessrrwani shows me how make a great French Mille-feuille

The friendly staff at Paul, MGM Muscat

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote my first two blog posts on Paul, Muscat. With Eid rapidly approaching, I  decided to write my third and final post on Paul where Pastry Chef Mohammed Kessrwani shows me how to make the best  Mille-feuille and hope you enjoy reading this one as well.Even better, if you decide to try this out as your very own 'Eid Special.'

Paul is a French chain of bakeries and café restaurants established in 1889 in the city of Croix, in Northern France by Charlemagne Mayot. Today, there are over 500 franchised Paul bakery/café restaurants in many countries worldwide, viz.France, Spain, Belgium and the United Kingdom,  among others.This year Paul came to Muscat and has rapidly proved to be a very welcome addition to the range of restaurants present here.

Having a sweet tooth and being fond of baking myself, I'd specially asked to meet the Pastry Chef and that was how I found myself in the kitchens of Paul Muscat at 0730 hours and when I entered, was surprised to see Chef Mohammed Kessrwani already hard at work! 

                                

                           Chef Mohammed Kessrwani is all smiles

Welcoming me and making sure I was wearing a cap to cover my hair, he positioned me where I could watch him clearly and had no objections to being photographed at his work station. My first impression was,'Gosh he looks so young!" ! And that was proved to be right when I learnt that he was 29 and had been working in Pastry for the last 14 years.

I shadowed Chef Mohammed for two days and am delighted with all that I got to see and learn. On the second morning, I was invited by the Chef to watch an exclusive session on how to make a  great Mille-feuille and was then treated to a Demo of the vanilla strawberry version.

The mille-feuille ( "thousand leaves") vanilla custard slice, also known as the 'Napoleon' is a pastry of French origin. Traditionally, a mille-feuille is made up of three layers of puff  pastry(pâte feuilletée), alternating with two layers of pastry cream (crème pâtissière), but sometimes whipped cream or jam are substituted. The top pastry layer is dusted with  confectioner's sugar  and sometimes cocoa, or pulverized seeds (e.g. roasted almonds). Alternately, the top is glazed with icing or fondant in alternating white  (icing) and  brown  (chocolate)  stripes  and combed to get the effect of lines or striations.

The pastry sheets ready to be worked on

Piping the vanilla cream

Since Paul has strict standards, the basic pastry sheets for the Mille-feuille reach the Muscat restaurant as frozen sheets and every morning when he comes in, Chef Mohammed takes out the required quantity and thaws them till they are at the right temperature. After making the vanilla or as the case may be, the chocolate cream, he starts piping it, neatly but very firmly, around the outer edges and works his way inwards, till the entire sheet is neatly covered.

Beautifully set and Chef starts to top with fresh strawberries

Working patiently, Chef Mohammed  covers the entire surface with the beautifully sliced fresh strawberries and then adds a light glaze to the finished product that goes a long way in adding to the appeal. Reminding me that we all eat with our eyes first, he pops the tray into the refrigerator for about 20 mins to give it a chance to set.

Exactly twenty minutes later, the alarm goes off and he gently takes the tray out and neatly slices the set pastry- a Vanilla Strawberry Mille-feuille into 24 portions and voila, a great new batch is ready!


Sometime later, the Mille-feuille make their way to the front of the shop where customers feast their eyes, before placing their orders for their goodies or best of all, sit down for coffee,  chat and a strawberry Mille-feuille with a friend!
 

Ramadan special-My Apple, Fig and bread pudding, served with Vanilla ice-cream and honey

I love baking and even more, I like to try out something which I can make and serve without much ado. So today, I'm going to tell you how to bake a delicious, golden brown Apple, Fig and Bread pudding. 

Want even more 'deliciousness'? Serve it hot, topped with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of honey.

So here it is, the recipe and the method. Do let me know what you think and it would be even better, if you actually try it and let me have your feedback..












Ingredients

Three slices of wholemeal/brown bread
I apple sliced
6 small figs
1 and a 1/2  cups  milk
1 egg
1 tsp   vanilla essence
Brown Sugar- 2  tablespoons


Method 

Pre heat oven to 150 degrees and set timer for 32 mins.

Set the three slices of bread cut evenly into squares on an oven proof glass dish which has been lined with oil/butter.

Add the figs which have been roughly chopped.

Slice apple finely and cover with the juice of one lemon to prevent dis colouration.

Soak the bread slices with the milk, egg, sugar  and the vanilla essence mix which should have been beaten with a fork to achieve a  smooth consistency.


Leave for 3-5 minutes to ensure that the slices are softened.

Decorate with the apple slices.

All set for popping into the  oven

Put into the pre-heated oven and wait till the timer pings on completion of 32 minutes.( You may want to leave it for an additional 2-3 mins if you want more of a golden brown look.)

Bake till top is golden brown

The Apple, fig and bread pudding is ready!

To Serve

Cut into portions and serve in a bowl.

The best way that I can recommend is to add one scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with a teaspoon of honey.

Even more delicious, topped with a scoop of Vanilla Ice cream and a drizzle of honey

Sit back and enjoy with a steaming  Cappuccino...

Le Cordon Bleu Paris, and why French pastry is the best in the world..

“The fate of nations hangs upon their choice of food, wrote Jean Anthome Brillat Savarin, the great philosopher of gastronomy and nowhere is this statement more accurately reflected than in Paris.Paris breathes culinary excellence at every corner: its open-air markets, bistros, and boulangeries, the ideal location to learn about gastronomy, regional products and to absorb France’s culture. And I'm not wrong when I say that the best place to learn about all this and then some is at the Le Cordon Bleu, and  has seen thousands of the best chefs in cuisine and pastry all over the world, walk out of its doors.

Founded in 1895, with its motto ‘A commitment to excellence since 1895’ Le Cordon Bleu Paris attracts students from all over the world. The best students can obtain internships in Parisian establishments, an invaluable work experience which will reflect in future professional pursuits. All courses are taught in French and translated into English.Pâtisserie Supérieure student exams are judged by Chef Instructors as well as guest judges from the culinary industry, who grade each entry on presentation, organization, presentation, and taste. 

On this trip to Paris, we had the privilege of watching our daughter Neha graduate from this very world renowned Le Cordon Bleu, Paris with a Diplome de Patisserie on June 6, a glorious afternoon at a beautiful and touching ceremony held at the Westin Hotel. Watching her receive the medal, the blue ribbon and the chef’s hat was one of the most memorable moments of our lives. Since then, Neha has started an internship at a leading patisserie in Paris and is putting all the skills learnt at Le Cordon Bleu to very good use.

Neha graduates from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris

Here’s a very interesting little story about the origins of this blue ribbon.In 1578 King Henri the third of France established the Holy Spirit. The knights of this order were identified by wearing a cross on a blue ribbon.This elite group set very high standards in matters of the table and soon the notion of this blue ribbon became synonymous with skills of the highest caliber in culinary excellence.

While I have done an exclusive feature for the Oman based 'Woman' magazine for its August issue due out shortly and will share the link on 'Food For Thought' once the issue is released, this post is based on my meeting and interview with  two of the most senior chefs at the school-Chef Jean –Francois Deguignet, Chef Patissier and Chef Philippe Clergue, Chef de cuisine and got some very interesting insights from them. I'm sharing some excerpts with all of you here -

Chef Jean –Francois Deguignet, Chef Patissier and Chef Philippe Clergue, Chef de cuisine

To my query on what it was at  Le Cordon Bleu  that really sets them apart from all others Chef Deguignet told me, “It is the sharing of passion, focusing on technique, training, visualizing and practice that sets us apart. These are short and very intensive courses and it is the hands on practical classes that teach a great deal to all students.”

Chef Phillipe Clergue added,“The basic level is extremely important as it is a really big job for the chefs and instructors to bring and put all the students at the same level. In any practical batch, there are only between 10-14 students and that is what makes it really unique. In the Superior cuisine one of the exercises is to create a recipe from a list of ingredients provided. In between, the students are encouraged to come to the chefs , discuss the details and then create  their recipe”.

Chef Deguignet- “In Superior Pastry it is different as its not about their creations, This is where they have to precisely follow what the recipe says. It is good to use the Internet and learn more and more that way. It is really great for visuals and everything can be experienced online, except for the taste. That is why we encourage students to go in for an internship where they have a chance to learn more as well as practice what they have learnt.”

I was keen to learn  that over all their years of experience of 20-30 years, how many and what kind of innovations had been introduced in the curriculum and techniques at LCB and was delighted with their responses.

Chef Philippe- “Molecular gastronomy is being introduced at a rapid pace. While the e chefs at LCB are the ambassadors of classic techniques, they have to keep up with the changing trends over a period of time. e.g vacuum packing and molecular cuisine all come under that umbrella. We are all open-minded and this is particularly evident when the students reach the Superior level. What is really most important is to learn the classical techniques and once they master it, they can move on. It is just like in music, once students learn the DO- RE-MI, they can learn more as well as differently.”

Chef Deguignet“It is comparatively easy receive a Diploma but difficult to stay in the business. As part of my own personal growth and development I am a part of a group called the ‘Sugar Men’ who meet periodically and discuss the ever growing trends in the Pastry business.”

And finally to my query on how they compare French pastry to that from the USA, UK or other countries?

Chef Deguignet sealed it with a superb response- “There is a very famous old saying, ‘ Desserts are universal but pastry is French!”

Need I say any more?

Why we adore French macarons and Laduree ...

The incomparable Laduree Macaron Tower

Show me one person who doesn't adore  a macaron and I will show you Peter Pan!

There is just something about a macaron with its crispy outer crust and its deliciously moist filling that the mere thought of it is enough for a person's mouth to start watering. It is mildly moist and when you bite into it, it simply melts in the mouth.All macarons are fabulous but there is something even more special about French macarons and that is what I will try and briefly touch upon here.

According to the Wikipedia, a ‘macaron’ is a sweet meringue based confection made with eggs, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder, orground almond and food colouring.  It is also called Luxemburgerli. The macaron is commonly filled with ganache, buttercream or jam filling  sandwiched between two bicuits. The name is derived from the Italianword macarone, maccarone or maccherone, the Italian meringue.

The confection is characterised by smooth, squared top, ruffled circumference (referred to as the "foot" or "pied"), and flat base.  Macarons can be found in a wide variety of flavors that range from the traditional raspberry, chocolate to the new. (foie gras, matcha)

And if we are talking about French macarons, no post can be complete without mentioning Laduree, the ultimate destination for a 'foodie's  Paris visit.

The true story of the Laduree macaron starts with Pierre Sesfontaines, second cousin of Louis Ernest Laduree, who at the beginning of the 20th century, first thought of taking two macaron shells and joining them with a delicious ganache filling.

To read more details, you will need to visit this site and I can assure you that you will love what you read!

http://www.laduree.fr/en/histoire/macaron

On the three occasions I visited this Laduree, I literally found myself spoilt for choice- did I want the macarons or did I want one or all of these decadent goodies? Believe me when I tell you that for that moment in time, all that one can think, feel and of course see, is this mouthwatering spread, that just cries out to be eaten. One box of macarons just isn't enough, and that's also when you think of friends and family who might be looking forward to goodies from Laduree and you ask the sales girl for a second and then quite possibly a third....and a fourth box as well

Looking at these pieces and thinking they look better than jewels 

Entering Laduree in the Carousel, next to the Louvre

Just before I sign off for today, I must give you the best tip that I can think of.

The tradition of Laduree is one that will go on and on and one of the most important  things is that of sitting down together to enjoy a delicious cake. And that's exactly why Laduree is inviting all cake lovers to join the Laduree Club. 

Here's where you can sign up for the newsletter which apart from giving you all news updates about Laduree, will offer you exclusive recipes, tips and tricks from the world renowned chefs.

http://www.laduree.fr/en/club/newsletter

Why wait...?