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Thursday, September 16, 2010

KINGS OF PASTRY! 2

0 comments Posted by pece at 6:41 AM

Last night I had to eat macarons...

Et les chocolats...

And drink champagne...

At the opening screening of the KINGS OF PASTRY!

Remember I told you about the KINGS OF PASTRY back in August.
Well it's here at last!

After the film, filmmakers, Chris Hededus and D. A. Pennebaker took questions. I couldn't resist asking,
"However did you get permission from the French Meilleur Ouvriers de France (or MOF) society to make this film?!"
It was not easy.
They had to wait until the very last minute for permission. Even then it was day-by-day up-for-grabs wait to see if they would be invited back the following day to shoot during the 3-day concours. The chance their equipment or even their very presence could disturb the competing chefs or their creations was a major concern. On the last and final day they were given a tiny boxed-area to shoot the film.
C'est comme ca.
Yet in the end the MOF was very pleased to have the competition filmed for posterity. No one had ever attempted it before.

After the film we trooped over to nearby Jacques Torres Chocolate for the post-film soiree...

You feel you are inside a giant cocoa bean...

Ah les macarons et chocolats...

I got to meet the amazing unflappable star and MOF contender of Kings of Pastry, chef Jacquy Pfeiffer sans whites/out of his chef's jacket. Chef Pfeiffer is founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago.

The wives of the MOF contenders are very much heroines in their own right - Mme. Pfeiffer stands by her man as ever.

MOF winner (at the mere age of 26) Jacques Torres tries to explain why there are no female contenders for the MOF...ahem
Jacques is now Dean of pastry at the French Culinary Institute and where there are plenty of female contenders onboard. I drew Jacques 1st business card when he was still head pastry chef at Le Cirque. I used to hang out at his station and get sample nibbles - the good ole days..

Jacques did marry his own chocolatier.

Sotha Kuhn, former head chef at Le Cirque was there chatting with FCI Dean, Alain Sailhac...

New York restauranteur, Danny Meyer was there...

Three-time contender for the MOF, Stephane Treand was telling me how it really does take 3 tries to get it right. To know exactly where everything you need is to win the race to the finish line. And it is a race against the clock. And to be able to express your own unique point of view to win over all the judges. Remember the judges have to eat at least 16 desserts. How do you get yours to stand out above the other contenders?

Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer created this cinematic chocolatey sculpture for the party.

KINGS OF PASTRY will be opening near you soon.

Don't miss the excitement, the thrills, the tears, the laughter.

And watch the trailer again in case you're undecided...

And don't forget if you in Washington DC, do come have some macarons with me at the opening at the Alliance Francaise svp tomorrow night!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

KINGS OF PASTRY!

0 comments Posted by pece at 8:27 AM

Gerard Mulot Pastry Box, original watercolor, 9" x 11"

Pastry chefs and I have always seen eye to eye...

They are the 'artistes' in the cuisine, with chocolate and sugar...

Of course they adored having their portraits on their own business cards. They really got my food art biz going.

When I received an invite to a screening of KINGS OF PASTRY I was thrilled.

It's about the 3-day competition of carefully selected French pastry chefs, sixteen in fact, all vieing for the much coveted M.O.F. or Meilleur Ouvriers De France award in Lyon.

As luck would have it, I went to Maine to paint and missed the screening, but they sent me the video and BOY OH BOY is it fun!
The Guardian said,
"I never saw so many men sobbing at once"
"A culinary HURT LOCKER"
You get to see top pastry artistes pushed to the limit, racing against time and each other to make their super, fragiles creations. You see top pastry judges of France (PH included!) tasting and grading the contender's art works (16 desserts) and their responses. Full of suspense...catastrophes beaucoup...even the judges are in tears.
If you love French pastry, you MUST see KINGS OF PASTRY

Pastry chefs of the highest order are required to make many confectionary sculptures...

Usually made of sugar. These chocolate masterpieces were at the Salon du Chocolat last October. Now I have a better idea of the enormous effort that went into making them.
Oh the torture, oh the sleepless nights.

I attended the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie in Lyon in '94 - words can not describe the fabulousness of it all. If only I'd had my Canon back then. Last June I returned to Lyon for a macaron class. Instead I ate lunch at Paul Bocuse's Brasserie Le Nord.