Arnaud Delmontel :: Mara des Bois
By Paris Patisseries in Arnaud Delmontel
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Every time I mention Arnaud Delmontel to my brother, he goes, “You mean Arnaud Del Montel Williams?” That’s of course who I mean . . . the only man in the world who has a camera crew in the kitchen so that he can confront pregnant teens about their oxycodone abuse, while making fine pastries. In fact, he’s so adept at the latter that he won best patisserie in 2006 and then won the ultra-prestigious best baguette in Paris for 2007, which meant he had the honor of supplying President Sarkozy with baguettes for the entirety of the following year. Fancy.
Beyond the Montel Williams connection, there’s another laugh I always get when I think of Monsieur Delmontel. Before I moved to Paris last spring, I was doing a bunch of online research about the different shops, and I came across this video of him, where he answers a series of questions for a German news crew. Not even a minute into the video, completely unprompted, he whispers to the camera, “I earn 5,000 Euros a month.” That’s just about $85,000/year American. I’m not sure if that’s pre or post tax, but I appreciated the insight into the financial world of an acclaimed patissier. Then again, once I got to visit his shop, I was less concerned with gaining insights than I was with making sure some of his patisseries were getting inside my mouth. Among his eye-catchers was the Mara des Bois.
Princess Mara here is made of wild strawberry mousse, fennel cremeux and biscuit cuiller. There were also the four embossed bright yellow squares of white chocolate, but I’ve saved the next paragraph to talk about those. What’s interesting is that the first time I had this, for whatever reason, the mousse really did not work for me at all . . . at all. I actually wrote down that, “It made my mouth feel unholy.” It’s nearly ashen-grey tone didn’t help the level of appeal. But then I bought it again, cause I’m all about second chances (that goes out to you Monsieur Larher), and I loved it. Something must have been askew with my taste buds that first time, or it just really sucked ****. Who knows. Anyway, the mousse is delicate and delightfully perfumed with wild strawberries. As the French say, “Miam!” And the biscuit cuiller core was either fennel, anise or both, but it really doesn’t matter because it was delicious. Even on the odd first encounter with the Mara des Bois, my notes more specifically say, “super delicious!” to that gateau. The red goo on the outside felt like it looks (like red snot), and the strawberry half served as a nice palate cleanser. The fennel seeds weren’t too shabby either.
Oh, and those yellow [white] chocolate squares . . . pointless. They contributed nothing more than some gauche flare. Monsieur Delmontel could have totally taken advantage of the fennel and done something else there – perhaps a sugar something, a dacquoise something, or a shortbread something. He basically wrecked what was otherwise a pretty well-crafted and original pastry. Pourquoi? Pourquoi, Arnaud?!
But, whatever. Just flick them off and enjoy the rest. Not everyone can have a Carl Marletti garnish sensibility, where it always enhances, rather than falling flat or detracting from the overall effect.
So, yes, I’d definitely still recommend the Mara des Bois. Although the yellow squares enraged me, it’s a pretty minor point. The wild strawberries and fennel were a nice, refreshing combination, and I’m looking forward to grabbing another on my next visit to Monsieur Delmontel Williams’ shop.
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