A Day To Remember

I've been useless today. Completely and utterly, useless! But it's all for good reason...

Yesterday, was the best day I've had in France so far! It was definitely a day to remember :D

It started off with a drive to Reims. I would be meeting with Pâtissier Olìvìer Biston, one of ma papa's clients, and shadowing him for the day. I had no expectations whatsoever, but was pleased that as soon as I got to the pâtisserie, Chef Biston gave me a white coat and a hat, and put me to work. I WORKED IN A FRENCH PâTISSERIE!!!!! This has been a dream of mine for quite some time, and I was beside myself while observing, working with and tasting French pastry. What an incredible privilege! I was honored just to walk into the back where all the magic happened.

I arranged freshly baked brioche on platters for an order for a wedding cocktail hour. Then, I decorated pastries with two apprentices and one graduate pastry student. They continually offered me tastes of everything, and I flew to heaven :p. The brioche was warm and soft. The framboise pastry was creamy, yet velvety.

Pastry of Fruits Rouges that I helped decorate.

Chocolat Pastry I topped off with chocolat decorations and Champagne corks from Papa's Chocogil.

The graduate student took me upstairs to the chocolate room, where Biston's father was cleaning the machines as he had finished his work for the day. She let me take a citron chocolat du lait, and here final project, a chocolat mold filled with framboise and framboise liqueur. The filling was lovely, so lovely!

Watching the grad student roll pâte a choux in sugar syrup (or caramel). Finished product is below. These will be used for the Champagne piece that Chef Biston was going to prepare that afternoon.

Then, I watched Chef Biston, quickly ice six wedding cakes and cover them with fondant. His speed and ease of movement was beautiful. It was like watching Picasso paint a masterpiece in front of my eyes. Sigh.......... One thing I know I'd like to invest in for my own pâtisserie, is a laminator. Goodness gracious that one piece of equipment saves so much time and stress, it's a must!

Before I left, again he quickly showed me how to make sugar decorations out of blown sugar. A time consuming process, but the results of the product are magnificent and brilliant!

Blown sugar - Initial Stage

Sugar colored with black colorant and set under the warmer to change it's texture for pliable sugar. 

Blown sugar - Final stage

Biston's mother was filling in yesterday for his wife who was sick. His mother, whose name has escaped me - pardon Madame - was so pleasant, cheerful and a joy to be around. She cooked lunch for us, poisson with a white cream sauce and tagliatelle. It was such a simple meal, but comforting. And of course, dessert! I got to choose from the case in the front and was overwhelmed with the varieties. I choose Tanzanie, it was a chocolate mousse filled with mango and pineapple, sandwiched by two semi-circle pieces of chocolate, then decorated with two peach colored macarons (almond flavored) and topped off with a real mirabelle, a plum fruit native to Lorraine, France. The fruit is also used to make a popular liqueur (which I mistakenly missed out on last night :/.)

iPhone Chocolates that sell for 10€!

I was sad to leave, but incredibly grateful for the experience. I hope to return to Pâtisserie Biston for another lesson before I leave, but if the opportunity does not arise, at least I've made the connection. I am seriously considering coming back to France to be his apprentice in the near future. Stay tuned...

Pâtissier Biston et moi

I realize that yesterday was absolutely positively A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, but quite long. So in order to not bore you, I'm splitting the day into three posts. Voila, Part One: Pâtisserie Oliver Biston, Part Deux: Paolo and Part Trois: The Dinner Party.

Part Deux: To be continued...