A few words from from the atelier
“For me, I don’t know too many foods who are so generous, between the fragrance of the croissant baking, the caress of holding this delicate creation and the implosion inside the mouth where all the ingredients blending together are sprinkled with a sourdough essence who leave you speechless.
To arrive at this result, It cost me a lot of work, a lot of sweat through lot of time. Some days it took a lot from me. It still does I am always thinking about my pastry to make it better. Months were needed and many batches of dough that never saw the light of day – finished as delicious pizza dough for late night dinners after long days of experimentation. There were notebooks full of failure but somewhere within, we found the balance needed to create our croissant.
My recipe was based from my apprenticeship Master in the 90s. Using this as a starting point, I removed, added and experimented with variations for months in my workshop building the recipe into what you experience today. Like said before a lot of failure happened through this process. In the meantime I adapted the recipe for the frozen production. Quantities of sugar, water, butter, yeast varied by doing with this process.
The Canadian butter was another challenge. We even cried over butter! But I prefer change 10 times butter (that we did anyway) than once of flour. (Even we went through 4 flours.) I manage to work with the butter that I have access to in Canada. In the end, what I discovered that the flour with her terroir is the most important.
One day, tears of joy. An international follower from Twitter, surprised us sending all the way from Ireland, a sample of their butter! Beautiful Irish butter from small artisanal butter-maker, Abernethy Butter. They make it from milk of their neighbours cows who eat the green Irish grass. The butter is churned by hand and shaped and packaged by hand. For me, the best butter that I ever have.
During those many months of experimenting I had my secret ingredient. Lison. It seems cliché to say she was my muse but without her palate and natural curiosity and genuine fascination for this pastry, I don’t think my pastries would be what they are today. She even inspired the shape of the croissant and the pain au chocolat. For the croissant she wanted crispy bit at the end of it. That added another step by cutting one more time the dough but created our distinct shape, adding we think, another dimension to the pleasure of our pastry.
Today you have to enjoy the final step of this long journey, who is the baking. And always remember, what you give to the dough it gives back to you! “
See you at breakfast.
