Des Gâteaux et du Pain :: Religieuse Caramel
By Paris Patisseries in Des Gâteaux et du Pain
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A visit to Des Gâteaux et du Pain is a bittersweet adventure. The sweet is that you get to indulge in their case . . . nay, trough of impeccable pastries – most of which are a taste sensation. The bitter is that you have to take the metro into the middle of nowhere, walk a few blocks down a street that feels more like a strip mall than it does a Parisian rue, and then, to top it off, you have to interact with a staff who bring the cliché of saucy Parisian attitude into its full glory. You might be thinking, “Well, of course they’re saucy . . . they’re a fancy French pastry shop.” But, no, there are fancier shops with staff 100 times as friendly. Perhaps it’s just that they’re crowded? Nope, last time I was there, I was the only one in the shop. Maybe it’s because they expect you to speak French? Well, I do, so that was not the problem. Then what is it?! Well, I mentioned the ‘tude of the staff to a certain renowned pastry chef, and I got an immediate laugh. When I asked what the chuckle was for, it was explained that one of the owners has a bit of a reputation for being impatient and intense. So I said, “Oh, I see. It trickles down to the employees.” and had that confirmed with a “Yeah!” of the “No ****!” variety. But enough gossip – let’s discuss their Religieuse Caramel Fleur de Sel . . .
Decked-out in school bus yellow, it’s a bit of an eye-catcher. But, much like the last piece of theirs I reviewed, the color is only for show. The glaze is merely sugar-flavored, if we can call that a flavor, and doesn’t come imbued with even a hint of caramel or fleur de sel. You know how much I love pointless decoration, especially when it’s littered with cracks (see below)! Excuse me for a second. I need to yawn from the tedium of it all [inhale and uhhhhhhhhhhahhhhhhhhhhhhhh]. Lord. The choux was . . . dry. It had definitely been overcooked. And the crème within? The texture was textbook quality, but what bothered me was that the caramel flavor was decidedly weak, and there wasn’t much fleur de sel to speak of either. More than anything, I got hints of vanilla, and it was only on every 3rd or 4th bite that a little caramel or fleur de sel would poke through. My notes from the day say, “It’s not much more than a regular religieuse wth a bit of a caramel flavor and some dry choux.” I must concur with my past self here and say, “Indeed!”
Some of you might be wondering if I’m just being hypercritical because the staff’s sauciness has me embittered. Au contraire. In fact, the next piece of theirs I have in my notes starts with a, “Very very nice!” for its review. So rest assured that my objectivity is firmly in place. The situation with this religieuse is that it just didn’t taste as billed. Having eaten quite a few of their pastries, I know subtlety isn’t a hallmark of their work, so someone either didn’t prepare the day’s batch correctly or this piece is more of an afterthought than a centerpiece amongst their greater oeuvre.
Even if all that yellow is totally gauche, it’s still a fairly attractive piece . . . as squat religieuses go. I do appreciate that Des Gâteaux et du Pain generally makes a nice effort to keep their work neat and tidy. Not quite to Aoki or Hugo & Victor levels, they’re still far from being sloppy. On the flip side, the colors and designs are a little overdone, but still sane and nothing as absurd as some of Arnaud Larher’s work.
If only they had just taken the choux out of the oven a little sooner and had worked in some more caramel and fleur de sel! It could have been so good . . .
So, obviously, skip the Religieuse Caramel Fleur de Sel. I’ve probably said it a hundred times before here on the blog, but Ladurée and Carl Marletti are all you need if you’re a religieuse fantatic. And speaking of Ladurée religieuses, keep an eye out for my review of their rose religieuse down the road. It’s phenomenal.
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