After a two-year hiatus, I found myself back in Paris, serendipitously during the French Open. I noticed a significant shift in the patisseries of the food and wine capital of the world, like a twist in a Carlos Alcaraz five-setter.
A standout trend was that everyone’s going back to the basics of freshness. I saw real ingredients, fresh fruits and dairy cream ruling the menus and the shelves. The joy of tasting a real strawberry or a real berry or fig, when you’re biting into a pastry, is what is taking the confectionery world by storm. The once prevalent glacé or semi-glossy sheen is slowly fading out, giving way to this comeback celebration of natural textures and flavours. The smooth, mousse-filled entremet is no longer as ubiquitous.
Bakeries in Paris are moving away from entremets to more fresh fruit and cream desserts, Lovey found Courtesy Lovey Kapur
The best French pastry chefs — from Philippe Conticini to Cedric Grolet — are leading the charge. Grolet is celebrated for his fruit-inspired desserts that closely mimic the fruits from which they are made. His lemon tart is a lemon flower, made with a confit, cream and a meringue with lime and a yellow lemon gel. His apricot rosemary, for instance, has a core composed of apricot compote. Conticini’s love for exotic fruits is as well known as his supersize croissants. This summer, his creations included a delicious strawberry pistachio tart and a fresh raspberry pie, a nod to the season of berries in France. My sister Puja and I also indulged in a lovely chocolate croissant.
Cedric Grolet’s famous lemon tart and apricot rosemary dessert @cedricgrolet/Instagram
Witnessing this return to traditional dessert-making was a pleasure. It resonates with what we have been doing at Kookie Jar since its inception, reinforcing the goodness for real food and fresh ingredients.
Another thing I noticed was that the pavlova — the famous French meringue-based dessert — was everywhere. It graced almost every menu we saw, be it a patisserie or bistro. We tried it in Loulou, a charming restaurant with a garden right outside the Louvre. Since we were in Paris after a while, we had breakfast at the very touristy Laduree, where we enjoyed a French Toast while my nephew began his day with the famed macarons. After all, Paris is about macarons and profiteroles. Traditionally, French profiteroles are filled with ice cream, like we do at Mangio, and not cream. Profiteroles and creme brulee are as prevalent in Parisian bistros and as integral to the culinary fabric as rosogolla and sandesh are in Kolkata. Coffee was also had at Fauchon, Paris, a French gourmet food and delicatessen company founded in 1886. It was summer so rosé wine flowed freely.
The charming garden setting of (left) Loulou; and (right) their French pavlova — a dessert that is making a comeback on menus around Paris @loulourestaurants/Instagram
Similar to what is happening the world over, I saw a growing preference for local dining and traditional eating. We often travel to Italy and we’ve observed this shift there too, where these small, little bistros serving authentic regional cuisine are gaining popularity. In Paris, we had escargot (snails) and oysters at a local French spot recommended by our hotel, with the un serveur dressed stylishly in his impeccable white shirt and black vest, no matter how simple the place. It’s interesting how whatever the French do, they go into such intricate details and variations. There’s so much that goes into even a simple dish; an amalgamation of different elements and tastes. Everything is well thought out and done to perfection.
Profiteroles and Mixed Berry Tarts by Kookie Jar at Shantanu Goenka’s new store launch in Kolkata Courtesy Lovey Kapur
Ironically, on the flight back to Kolkata, I watched The Taste of Things starring Juliette Binoche, which beautifully captures this sense of intricacy. Complex can be simple, too.
(As told to Karo Christine Kumar)
