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Hybrid pastries, the big bang
Just as Greek mythology is studded with half-man, half-animal creatures, the pastry repertoire now counts on the presence of sweet chimeras. When two-in-one recipes become monsters of pleasure.
Easter cake
While chocolate molds are all the rage these days, some pastry chefs and chocolatiers take pleasure in keeping customs alive by offering traditional Easter cakes. Gault&Millau has chosen five of the most emblematic.
Orange blossom, intoxicating and adored
Traditionally prized in North Africa, it is used to flavor gazelle horns; in Lebanon, it is used to make café blanc, a hot water sweetened with honey; and in Provence, it adds a typical southern flavor to brioches, fougasses and cookies. Today, it is gaining ground among French pastry chefs. The proof is in these 5 favorites from the editors.
Thomas Besnault, cook, and François Rieant, gardener, at Loire Valley Lodges
Beyond the now classic image of the chef crouching in his vegetable garden, for some there's a real work of vegetable production, which implies a close relationship and complicity with the gardener. The latter is no longer confined to the simple role of supplier, so much so that it's no longer clear which one is at the service of the other. Sixth episode in our series of portraits with Thomas Besnault, chef of L'Ardent at Loire Valley Lodges, and gardener François Rieant.
Valençay, tasting at the Atelier du Goût
Like all pyramid-shaped cheeses, it should be cut vertically, with the cheese upright rather than flattened, from top to bottom, generally by one eighth of the cheese to create a nice, easy-to-define slice (half of a quarter, or a quarter of a half). Of course, it's best tasted with its ashy rind, to appreciate all its aromas, a little more undergrowth and mushroomy near the rind, more dairy and creamy near the heart, with the ideal maturing period somewhere between "too fresh" and "too done", which could give it a pungent taste.
At Easter, the animals go carnival
No longer is everyone looking for a cat, but for a hen, a rooster, a rabbit or even a fox. What if, instead of hunting for eggs, you went pecking in a Colorama barnyard? Gault&Millau made the rounds and found some chocolatiers with a real sense of celebration.
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