When I made the decision to go to Pastry School several years ago, it was because I wanted to begin to learn all that I didn’t know about Pastry and Baking. Boy, did I learn one big sobering lesson, and this is it: I am but at the mere tip of the iceberg, a neophyte, a kindergarten novice – with miles to go before I sleep – and so, my great journey of education and discovery continues…. Another “came late to the game” experience for me this week – the discovery of Saint Honore! My education continues and I am constantly reminded of how little I know about the masterwork of artisans in my field, down through the ages, and who the true “celebrities” are – and I don’t mean that in the sense of today’s definition of food celebrities, except maybe, in a few instances.
Thank you to Will Torrent – author of the just recently released gem “Patisserie at Home”. If it weren’t for him and his gorgeous Gateau Saint-Honore on pages 126 and 127, I wouldn’t have known that in France, Saint Honore is the patron saint of Bakers and Pastry Chefs. Obviously, many other people in the world are in the know – as evidenced by the amount of information about this Saint and the gateau dedicated to him on the internet and other sources.
Could it be more ironic, that the Feast of Saint Honore is celebrated on May 16, my birthday – and that I unwittingly just stayed on the Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore???!!!! (Unwitting is now my word for today) I am now officially a patron of Saint Honore! (Shouldn’t I celebrate in person?)
Will Torrent’s new book, Patisserie at Home, is a gem! This is a book well worth investing in!
For those of you who are interested, here is a good background (sorry for all the typos – they aren’t mine -:
COURTESY: THE SALT FROM NPR:
First, the history: Honoré, also known as Honoratus, became bishop of Amiens in Northern France in the sixth century. Sources disagree over whether he was a baker, but when he was named bishop, a baker’s peel — the flat wooden paddle used to move loaves to and from a hot oven — was said to have put down roots and transformed into a fruiting tree, much to the surprise of the incredulous woman holding it.
After his death, processions in his honor reputedly stopped both droughts and deluges, ensuring good wheat harvests and, consequently, winning him the hearts of bakers.
Pictures of St. Honoré from church iconography reinforce his boulanger roots. He’s holding his wooden peel, often with a few delicious-looking loaves of crusty French bread nearby.
But according to historian of Cornell University, who wrote The Bakers of Paris and the Bread Question, 1700-1775, for many years St. Honoré in the battle for bakers’ patron.
Initially, bakers organized around both Honoré and St. Lazare, the latter of whom had a reputation for defending against leprosy. Bakers of the time, with their physically demanding profession and rudimentary understanding of disease, were especially afraid of leprosy, Kaplan tells The Salt.
St. Honoratus or St. Honore, patron saint of bakers
courtesy of Catholic Online
Eventually the French bakers’ guild settled in favor of Honoré in the 17th century, subsidizing a chapel that became the central point for the gatherings of their , a sort of religious arm of the guild.
Fast-forward to the 19th century, and Parisian bakers began bringing glory to the saint’s name in the best way they knew how — with a fabulous confection. (Given the historical division between bread bakers and pastry chefs, the latter probably had little connection to Honoré, making this more a worshipping of butter and sugar than of a patron saint.)
The was developed at the legendary Chiboust pastry shop on Paris’ Saint Honoré Street, which, alas, no longer exists. It started out as a ring-shaped brioche filled with pastry cream, which Chiboust lightened with an airy Italian meringue to create a new kind of filling. That fussy filling became known as crème Chiboust, which is still used by French bakers and even has its own Facebook .
According the book, Desserts, by Parisian pastry chef , one of Chiboust’s bakers, August Jullien, came up with his own version, replacing the ring of dough with a ring of little cream puffs.
By the late 19th century, the St. Honoré cake had taken its present form, incorporating a pastry disk filled with Chiboust cream, topped with a crown of cream puffs dressed up even further with a crunchy cap of caramelized sugar, and draped with swags of whipped cream.
The plain version of the cake — simply flavored with vanilla and the bittersweet notes of burnt sugar — is most common, but you can find fanciful seasonal variations, showcasing everything from tropical fruits to green tea.
It’s a sort of “master class” confection, because it contains all of the fundamental elements that pastry school students need to conquer in one package: puff pastry, , pastry cream and caramelized sugar.
In modern-day France, the feast of St. Honoré still survives as a time to appreciate all sorts of breads and pastries. Baker who grew up in Normandy, fondly remembers how bakers (including his parents) would open their doors on May 16 for community festivals, school field trips, and public demonstrations.
The modern French also takes that week as the occasion to hold its annual meeting during a full-on festival of bread.
Another noteworthy version of the gateau:
Martha Stewart’s
http://www.marthastewart.com/351603/gateau-saint-honore-francois
and, worth a look:
http://iwannabeapastrychef.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/lesson-6-gateau-st-honore/
And, one of many important venues that I missed:
Gosselin:
http://www.boulangerie-patisserie-artisanale-paris7.com/
And so, Thought for the Day:
Next time you are in the mood to create a masterpiece of sorts – for a special occasion, or just for fun with choux and Chiboust Creme and those amazing sugared pistachios (we made in school with hazelnuts!), try your hand at a Gateau Saint-Honore!
And, once again, thank you to all those dedicated French “wonderfuls” for their gifts to art and soul throughout the ages!
Have a wonderful Springtime day!