Benoît Jabouille in 5 pastries

Named Pâtissier de la Région PACA 2023 and hailed for his "goldsmith's work" by Gault&Millau, Benoît Jabouille is an outstanding technician who focuses above all on the architecture of taste. The pastry chef at Restaurant des Rois de La Réserve de Beaulieu, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, likes to play with textures, acidity and freshness, always adding a touch of vinegar or aromatic herbs to his desserts. We asked him to select five pastries that he feels perfectly represent his world. Here are the ones he chose.

Rhubarb, jasmine and rice pudding

If Benoît Jabouille is so keen to talk about this dessert, it's first and foremost to highlight two rhubarb growers: Mathieu and Valentin Vermes. "They have a family business and supply many establishments. They have around a hundred varieties of rhubarb, more or less acidic, floral, sweet... It's really interesting! "Always keen to put the product first, the pastry chef at La Réserve de Beaulieu proposed this dessert in 2022, with a rhubarb confit as the main ingredient.ce, a centrifuged rhubarb confit, rhubarb compote, poached rhubarb, jasmine mousse and creamy Greek yoghurt with jasmine-scented rice vinegar. " Chef Julien Roucheteau likes to play with acidity, so over the years, I've adopted his style by playing with vinegars and fruit and vegetable maceration to add a touch of freshness," says Benoît Jabouille. For textural contrast, he also added a rice pudding ice cream topped with puffed rice to this graphic dessert.

Chocolate, herb and citrus tart

For the second dessert, Benoît Jabouille proposes this chocolate tart, sublimated by Joëlle Etienne's herbs and citrus fruits. "She's passionate about her craft and has truly exceptional products," assures the pastry chef at Restaurant des Rois - La Réserve de Baulieu (4 toques). This tart features a cocoa shortbread crust, a Valrhona cuvée Sao Tomé chocolate cream flavored with tagetes tagetes, a soft cookie with hazelnut oil and chocolate, and a crunchy praline of cocoa nibs and fleur de sel. For freshness, Benoît Jabouille chose a combava leaf ice cream, a tagetes cocoa jelly with lime zest, and a tagetes-scented herb pesto. "Aromatic herbs add a lot of depth to both cooking and desserts. This dessert is also a beautiful blend of textures. It's the first thing I think of to make something happen!"

Lemon, cake and meringues

This lemon-based dessert appeared on Benoît Jabouille's first menu in 2020, shortly after his arrival at La Réserve de Beaulieu. "Here, I'm highlighting Joëlle Etienne's citrus fruits with a lemon and olive oil cookie, a lemon confit and lemon caviar marmalade, cake croutons with lemon zest and olive oil, but also a sorbet with lemon leaves and Bataks berries. "This dessert illustrates once again the taste for the acidity and incisiveness of citrus fruits, counterbalanced by the fat and roundness of olive oil. It also features small meringues flavored with Iranian black lemon, proof that Benoît Jabouille doesn't deny himself a few products from elsewhere to make a difference on the plate. " I try to use local products as much as possible, but I don't restrict myself," says the pastry chef.

Grapefruit and coconut

For this fourth dessert, the pastry chef at La Réserve de Beaulieu has opted for grapefruit, sublimated from every angle, and married it with coconut. "We have a tart base with candied grapefruit marmalade, fresh segments and coconut cream inside. The top is an opaline lined with grapefruit sorbet, green shiso and coconut emulsion. "For freshness and contrast , Benoît Jabouille has also created a vinaigrette with coconut water, lemon caviar and grapefruit caviar, blended with pearl sudachi vinegar and green shiso oil. " The bitterness of the grapefruit is softened by the coconut, while the vinaigrette and sorbet add a refreshing herbaceousness", says the pastry chef.

Fig from Solliès

For the final dessert, Benoît Jabouille chose the Solliès fig. "The idea was not to throw anything away. In one of the small jars, there's an intensely colored, highly flavored granita of fig skins, with pickled blackberries. In the other, a dried fruit granola, blackberry gel with red Kampot pepper vinaigrette, a scoop of roasted fig and lovage sorbet, and a fig leaf emulsion. The main course features cereal shortbread, fig leaf and olive oil cream, fig marmalade, fig carpaccio and fig water veil. The whole thing is topped with a blackberry vinegar gel, fig leaf and olive oil cream and crispy gavottes," he explains. " Generally speaking, we try to throw away as little as possible when there's a real taste benefit," sums up Benoît Jabouille.