I was really hoping that someone else would write this article but volunteers are scarce. In November 1999 A group of Advance pastry students from Galway Mayo Institute of Technology Galway, their tutor Tom Keavney and Another tutor Richard Nielsen embarked on their now annual trip to the Capital of France for an advance class on dessert making. Each year they pick a different module to study last year it was sugar work and this year it was entremets. I was invited to go along as some of the group had to drop out for various personal reasons.I was delighted to have the opportunity and would highly recommend the trip to anyone.
So off we went on a cold Novembers morning to Shannon Airport where Sean had the Irish coffees on tap for all the group , a nice relaxing start to the proceedings. We boarded the Aer lingus flight to Charles De Gaulle Airport on the northern edge of Paris. After arriving we sorted out the usual formalities and with little or no fuss we headed to the center of Paris on the Roissy bus and arrived at the opera house. Now the fun began as we found the Metro and with all our luggage trundled down many flights of stairs and through turnstiles until we arrived on the platform. No screaming of brakes on these trains, unlike the underground in London these Metro cars run on rubber wheels rather than steel, another nice touch is that buskers are allowed to entertain in the metro and the carriages. We arrived at our stop and trundled up the stairs again and out onto the open streets of Paris. Even though we are in the suberbs the streets resemble every post card that you have ever seen. After a little discussion and a nice walk we find our hotel , the Hotel du Paix. This will be our base for the next five days. We all agree to meet in the lobby to go out and get a bite to eat later on. It is about 10 pm at this stage. The weather outside was bitter cold but the hotel was lovely and warm, the walls of our rooms were lined with a cloth material. Very cosy and sound proofed, my first time in a padded cell After a short recess we hit the town and found a nice quaint Italian restaurant where we were glad to be seated a s we were ravenous. Fabulous pasta and veal parmigina just hit the spot , nicely moistened by a drop of local wine.. We saw the school was close to the hotel and looked forward to our early start the next morning but could not retire before visiting "Le pub" . A nice bar close to the hotel whose staff seemed to know our gang quite well.
Next morning we were up but maybe not quite awake at 7.30 Hot croissants and baguettes were served in the hotel with plenty of Coffee , tea was available on request. So off we went to the collage. Bellouet Conseil. From the outside it was just another nondescript building but once you entered through the front door you immediately knew you were in a kitchen of excellence. Fabulous sugar works and pastillage pieces were around the display room as were many of the pastry books written by course instructor and MOF Mr G Bellouet. M.O.F is a very high award literally meaning best worker in France in his or her chosen field.. Down the narrow concrete stairs we go and we enter another kitchen which is to be our work area for the next few days. The kitchen is set out as a demonstration kitchen with the overhead mirrors and countertop as well as some other benches and all relevant equipment. Mr. Bellouet welcomes us and asks if he should conduct the class in French or English. He has good English and conducted most of the class through it. He explained how the course would work. On Day one we would make all the "bisquits" and bases needed for the final assembly which would take place on the second day. The third day would be reserved for making Petit fours. We were broken into teams "Equips" and set off about weighing out al the needed ingredients.. At lunch time we went down the street to a nice French restaurant and had lunch and a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau, which was being released on that day. In the afternoon we continued with the bases and mould linings and were shown different techniques of how to decorate and comb different types of " bisquits" And then we were off for the evening. We retired back to the hotel for a shower and a change and hit out for a bite to eat as a group. We passed many shops with fabulous pastries and assorted pate works on display, all beautiful and reasonably priced when you realised the ingredients and the work that went into preparing them. After dinner we split up some went home and some to " le pub" and As it was my first time in Paris I hit off to see the Eiffel tower. I caught the metro which is very easy to use and find your way around on. Within minutes I could see the bright orange glow of the spotlight Steel structure that is so famous and so unique. I walked along the riverbank of the Seine and wound my way to the base of the tower. Unfortunately it was late and the tower itself was closed, One is so struck with awe when you see the tower. A pylon of Dreams lit up and rising into the cold crisp Paris nightscape. Hitting back to the hotel I learned a valuable lesson. Not all the suburban lines of the metro run until 1 am some close at 11 or 11.30 pm and I was lucky to catch the last one. Day 2 at the collage. Another class based in the upstairs kitchen has just finished its course and all the desserts are on display, what a display the eyes are ready to pop out of your head and your mouth starts watering when you see the magnificent work laid before you. Mr. Bellouet tells us this is how our finished entremets will look tonight. So with renewed vigour we hit down those narrow stairs and start to work on the fillings for our entremets. Again the "equips" are going flat out to get all the mixes ready. Mr. Bellouet goes through each recipe and allows us to prepare some of the bases then he assembles the entremets and refrigerates or freezes them. After lunch we come back{ having tasted some of the other classes work at lunch} and we start to assemble the entremets. They are fabulous and we are allowed to take some back to the hotel to sample later on. On day three we prepared Petit fours and had a cocktail before we were presented with certificates of attendance.
The work was very interesting and shows what can be done if the pastry chef is allowed four things, Time, space , equipment and top quality ingredients .Unfortunately the majority of catering establishments in Ireland only treat desserts as an after thought. Only the top 10% of restaurants and hotels will try to attain the top level in the pastry line. I can see the day when some of these pastry chefs will be able to set up a central production kitchen and supply restaurants and hotels with the type and quality of product we saw and made in Paris. That night the group took a river tour down the seine and saw the Eiffel tower again as well as the Arc De Triumph by night and down the Champs Elysee. We were eating Hagan Daas in a café at 1.30 in the morning across from the Lido and neat TourD'Argent
On Saturday we headed off down town to shop in some of the Catering shops, De Geurrelin is like a throwback to the last century but it is so busy and stocks all types of catering equipment , it is like a hardware store in a country village long ago where you could buy anything from a pin to an anchor. La Bovida was another very good catering shop and was utlra modern with all its ice cutting and moulding equipment to all the sugar working equipment etc. After the group bought half of Paris we visited Fauchon near the Biblotech. Fauchon is like a Harrods but specialising in Foods. Oh Heaven if only you had a gold card. The displays were top class, like competition work on display and on sale. They have a restaurant/ coffee shop where a club sandwich costs over £20. But it is well worth a visit to see the mastery of presentation on all foods that are for sale. I tried to video some of the food displays in the interior of the shop but was stopped by security. We went and had lunch and then all split up to spend the afternoon touring the city or shopping or whatever we wished to do. I was lucky Richard Nielsen guided me around and we saw the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame, The Pont Neuf , Arc De Triumph, etc. A thoroughly enjoyable if tiring day. And so on Sunday it came to an end as we again gathered at Charles De Gaulle for the return flight home. We arrived in Shannon and hit our separate ways after a great break and learning experience in Paris. About six weeks after our trip I visited the Class in Galway Mayo Institute of Technology in Galway and found that the group had produced everything that we had seen and learned in Paris. All was laid before me on the pastry kitchen tables. A delight to behold and proof as if it were needed that we can produce as good if not better here in Ireland. Tom Keavney's pastry class were a treat to be with and I really enjoyed my time with them in Paris. I will treasure many fond memories of that outing.
Joe McHugh