© Roméo BALANCOURT
The strawberry plant
A symbol of sunny days, the emblematic strawberry cake is making a comeback in shop windows and is even taking pride of place on the menus of luxury hotels. For the record, a similar cake was first created by Escoffier at the end of the 19th century, then by Pierre Lacam in the 1900s, who designed a "fraisier des bois" with sponge cake and a hint of kirsch. But it wasn't until 1966 that Gaston Lenôtre created a strawberry cake with sponge cake punched with kirsch, buttercream and fresh strawberries, then christened "Bagatelle", in reference to the gardens. Here's a family portrait of a cake with well-defined codes, but no shortage of interpretations!
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Armand Arnal & Thierry Dufresne: Cross-pollination
The former is the chef at La Chassagnette, in Arles, the latter a former luxury goods executive turned beekeeper-harvester, founder of the La Manufacture du Miel brand in 2010 and of the Observatoire français d'apidologie in 2014. Armand Arnal and Thierry Dufresne talk about their love of bees and the importance of protecting these garden sentinels. In the chef's hyper-pollinating kitchen garden, a flight from the Arles flamingo, we witnessed these two biodiversity enthusiasts foraging.
Le Saint-Honoré
If there's a French pastry heritage, it's the saint-honoré, or "saint-ho" to its friends! Crunchy and creamy at the same time, it's a gourmet favorite in many hearts. Gault&Millau begins a series of sweet portraits with one that curiously doesn't honor the patron saint of pastry chefs, but rather that of bakers.
Rhubarb emerges from the shadows
The queen of rustic pies and crumbles, rhubarb is best enjoyed as a fruit, whereas it is a vegetable. This original plant leaves behind its old-fashioned trappings to spice up the most creative dishes and awaken both sweet and savory palates. One of the first spring vegetables, but the most recent to hit our plates, it's making a name for itself time and time again.
The grater shows its teeth
Rubbing, reducing, seasoning, zesting, spicing... It does it all! But where does this utensil come from, that Gruyère cheese couldn't do without? Flat or bell-shaped, giant or miniature, this spiky accessory is capable of reducing to calibrated crumbs whatever you put in front of it.
