Pain de Sucre :: Corto
By Paris Patisseries in Pain de Sucre
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I watch my language here on the blog, and I do my best to keep the content squarely PG-rated. But today, due to the graphic nature of the pastry, we just need to get something out of the way so that we can continue wholesomely. Please, if you’re under 18 or are easily offended, skip to the next paragraph… Ok, now that it’s just adults in the room, yes, this does look conspicuously like a pink breast with a gigantic raspberry nipple and square areola. I’m 99% sure that was the intent, too. I can just hear the conversation between the owners, Didier and Nathalie, now, D:“Hey, Nathalie.” … N:“Yes?” … D:”You know what I was thinking?” … N:”What’s that?” … D:”We should make a pastry that looks like a breast.” … N:”Oh my God, that’s genius! Your creativity is boundless, Didier.” … D: “Thanks, Nat. But let’s make the areola square so that it’s not totally obvious.” … N:”Ok. But can we have the nipple be an obscenely oversized raspberry?” … D:”It’s like you’re reading my mind.” After a fist bump and raucous chant of “PAIN…DE…SU…CRE” with their team of sous-chefs, they got to work on the Corto. After all, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Pain de Sucre does like to get experimental with their flavors and designs.
When I first bit in, my teeth sunk quickly through the crème, confit and “biscuit”, before hitting some chewy resistance halfway through. They’d sandwiched a layer of raspberry macaron in the middle, and together with the creamy crème, sticky confit, and cakey biscuit, I was in texture paradise. The only thing better than an array of textures is an array of textures that work well together. Pain de Sucre has pulled it off in spades. And the flavor? Well,individually, everything was excellent. Delicious tones of raspberry abound throughout the layers, and hints of lemon pop in for a guest appearance. However, there’s simply too much raspberry pulpe and confit at the core of the piece. It’s fairly overwhelming and could be toned down considerably, as not to push subtlties in the other layers aside. Balance. I need balance.
Achieving flavor equilibrium is an issue I’ve noticed at Pain de Sucre, time and again. Whether it’s a piece like this or their Ephemere that have a center of too-intense flavor, their Baobab that comes with a pipette of extra rum so that you can manage your own flavor level (taking some of the burden off them), or their Franquette that effectively has almost no flavor whatsoever, they just can’t quite get a handle on it. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pain de Sucre. I recently included them in what I’ve dubbed the “Elite-8”, but they need to bring in one of their other buddies from that group for some consulting. Help is needed. For all their creativity and prolific output, they’re being held back. What’s interesting, too, is that their declaration on Pain de Sucre’s Facebook fan page says, [translated] “A a time when gastronomy is focused on being scientific and molecular, Didier and Nathanlie . . . are coming back to basics, working on the memories and the emotions of flavor.” Make what you will of that.
I would still recommend the Corto. It’s definitely among the top 5 textural marvels I’ve had here in Paris. For that alone, it’s worth checking out. And while the flavor balance is askew, it’s not so off base that it makes the piece in any way unpleasant. So whether you love raspberries or anatomically-inspired pastry, head on over to Pain de Sucre.
Oh, and do you ever wish you could have pastry like this hand-delivered to you every morning? Well, you can. Just add Paris Patisseries as a friend on Facebook. You deserve a daily dose of Paris’ finest.
