A French Pastry Festival with Le Cordon Bleu. Also, Thermomix comes to India

“I hope that every time Indian consumers taste one our delicacies, they will feel an attachment to French culture and culinary arts, and more importantly our love for food”
Chef Christian Faure M.O.F.

It’s been a busy week of sorts and the words seem like an understatement. There seems to be a buzz in culinary activity here recently and suddenly so much more to do as the year wraps up. The French Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries through Sopexa, in partnership with the Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and Le Cordon Bleu launched a 3-week promotion dedicated to French pastry. I had the pleasure of attending a media event  for the French Pastry Festival as a part of the ongoing festival of bringing French delicacies to India.  It coincides with the four-day visit of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and first lady Carla Bruni, and celebrates France’s rich cultural and gastronomic tradition, bringing it to the Indian subcontinent.

Renowned Chef Christian Faure, M.O.F, Pastry Instructor & Director of Operations, Le Cordon Bleu, is conducting master classes on the art of French pastry techniques to perfect the skills of the chefs from the Oberoi Hotels in Mumbai, Bengaluru & Delhi.  The festival also offers the Indian audience a chance to taste authentic French pastries.

Le Cordon Bleu is considered to be the guardian of French culinary technique through its culinary programs that continue to preserve and pass on the mastery and appreciation of the culinary arts that have been the cornerstone of French gastronomy for over 500 years.

About his India visit, Chef Christian Faure said “I am delighted to be part of this training. Le Cordon Bleu, with 35 schools in 20 countries, is dedicated to the transmission of the culinary arts. It is a pleasure to see the enthusiasm and motivation of the Indian public to learn more about French cuisine and pastries.”The chef demonstrated his pull sugar artistry, blown sugar work and talked us through making his signature dish “Pomme Rouge soufflé / Sugar soufflé red apple”. He shared thoughts and emotions that should go into creating a dessert for special occasions, keeping us regaled with his engaging style and humorous banter. Mainly conversing in English with a deep throat-ed French accent, stepping in with quick bursts in French as easily and beautifully as he displayed his art, he had his audience captivated!

Some thoughts he left me with …  ‘THINK; think with your heart!’, ‘Create an emotion through the dish, create an element of surprise, an expectation…’, ‘Spirit dominates matter, and that is what makes a Master Chef’, ‘20% of the dish goes on visual appeal, 80% on taste’.

It was a treat to be able to attend his coveted workshop, and a dream come true to get the opportunity to meet such a celebrated chef from LCB who creates dishes for Heads of States and for events like G20 summits.He introduced a special sugar now available in India from French brand DGF {marketed in India by Inducia}, a sugar for use in the culinary industry, one that doesn’t caramelize on being exposed to heat. DGF specializes in the supply of pastry and bakery products for professionals.There was a dazzling array of desserts prepared by Chef Faure on display; his passion for fruit and light desserts outwardly visible. I expected to find ‘feet‘ here, and those were the first delights my eyes focused on. We had the pleasure of  sampling the spread as dessert after a really nice lunch of Tomato Soup, Sumac Chicken, Fish in  a Lemon & Dill Sauce, Spinach & Garlic Roasted Baby Potatoes, Saffron Risotto, Pasta in a Mushroom Sauce. I tried two of the desserts, in addition to the macaron of course; the crème bavaroise with  strawberry coulis, and the chocolate mousse cake. Both desserts spoke volumes of the chefs signature line. LIGHT, airy, mousse like and with a perfect balance of flavours! The toppings and garnishes caught my eye. Was indeed a celebration of French pastry complete with variety, colour, texture – something for everyone.

Came back with a certificate of attendance, which I am clearly very proud to own.

Thank you Khyati from Sopexa for organising this, and thank you ‘The Oberoi‘ for hosting the event at your gorgeous property!

The other exciting event last week was a demo for T H E R M O M I X … a word that spells magic.  I‘ve been bitten, I’m smitten, and I’m in love again! Good heavens…what a dream machine.  The BMW of the culinary world is what it’s been referred to as. It has a heart of gold, almost a miniature aircraft engine in there, with even the proverbial black box! I crawled out from under a rock obviously because when I was contacted by Christina, the Thermomix lady in India, as I had no clue what Thermomix was. It was the Kitchen Aid that was on my wish-list, and this came as a bolt out of the blue; now it has me fascinated.

Take a look at what it can do…Mills, Grinds, Pulverises & Grates coffee beans, chocolate, all grains, pulses, sugar into icing sugar, all nuts, all spices, breadcrumbs; Kneads all breads, pizzas, pasta dough, pastries; Minces; Prepares drinks, salads, dressings, ice creams, cakes, pavlovas, jams,  cappuccino, caffè latte & ice coffee, yogurt; Cooks soups, sauces, curries,pasta,risotto,custard,baby food; Whips egg whites, cake batter, frostings, cream, butter;  Crushes ice {this sharpens the blades too}; Steams fish, vegetables, dumplings…

All that in one appliance that will even wash itself! You might find that hard to digest, and quite unbelievable, which I did too … until I went for the demo. It does amaze with it’s ability to tirelessly and quickly carry out the above. It certainly lives up to it’s earned title of the world’s smallest, smartest kitchen.

In under 2 hours, we made ‘from scratch’ papaya sorbet {in 3 minutes!}, tomato soup {we ground dried lentils to act as a thickener}, Salad, Hollandaise sauce {including first flavouring the vinegar with spices}, roasting garam masala, making curry powder, a basic curry paste {cooking included}, and a vanilla custard. Did I forget kneading bread dough in a few minutes too? Yes, we did that too, and I came home and baked delicious bread with the dough which rose in the hours drive back home!

Now comes the hard part… wanting this magical machine, and counting my pennies because it does cost a packet!! It costs Rs 79,000/= in the Indian market, but then is a replacement for all kitchen appliances {which seem to fall lamely redundant in front of this mean machine}.  I think it’s an investment, a lifestyle change just waiting to happen! I’m seriously thinking of getting one, and am glad Mr PAB got me my DSLR some time back, else given a choice, I might have possibly gone for the Thermomix!I’ve been cooking up some yummies in my kitchen of late and with some stroke of luck, they seem to share some French origins! The first are these absolutely delicious Chicken, Mushroom and Roasted Pepper Julienes {said to be of French & Russian descent}. The second one is this ‘light as cloud and not to be missed‘ Marie-Helene’s Apple Cake from Dorie Greenspans new book Around My French Table. Those posts should follow soon, to keep in tune with the French food festival!

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