The smell of warm bread fills one of Benoit Castel’s patisseries in Paris, where the newly crowned world’s best pastry chef is back at work testing new recipes.
His fingers covered in cookie dough, the 54-year-old Frenchman returned to his usual routine after the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners (UIBC) named him World Confectioner of the Year last month.
“I have a mission: to be the world champion every day in my shop for my customers”, he said.
At the helm of several establishments in Paris, Castel has always followed one motto: “It’s all about the product”.
Three years after fellow French pastry chef Nina Metayer was crowned champion, Castel received the UIBC award presented annually to a leading figure in the profession in recognition of their career and contribution to the trade on July 14 in Singapore.
“Our work is no trivial matter. Every day we make things that people put into their bodies”, said Castel, who grew up in Brittany in western France.
His pastry cases feature blueberry and raspberry tartlets, cherry clafoutis and vanilla flans, but his best-seller is a chocolate choux pastry.
“If we stopped making it, there’d be protests”, he joked.
Each pastry is decorated with a small scalloped shortbread biscuit, a nod to his Breton roots. Castel avoids artificial colouring and gold or silver leaf, while fruit and vegetables are supplied from his own gardens and orchards in Brittany.
The grandson of farmers, Castel grew up watching his grandparents make butter. His mother and grandmother were also accomplished cooks.
He wanted to become a chef from the age of seven, but it was watching a pastry chef create a sugar model of the Château de Chambord when he was 10 that convinced him to pursue pastry-making.
‘Try new things’
“The funny thing with this profession is that it’s the product that dictates the recipe”, he said from his kitchen, which opens onto the shop and dining room.
Working alongside head baker Romain Montbabut, Castel regularly experiments with new recipes. Montbabut, who has worked with him for six years, describes him as demanding and perfectionist, but says he works alongside his staff every day and enjoys sharing his knowledge.
After setting out on his own in 2012, following work with chef Helene Darroze, Hotel Costes and La Grande Epicerie de Paris, Castel discovered breadmaking.
He developed his signature “pain du coin”, made with several flours, natural quince sourdough starter, honey and Salish salt from the US Pacific Northwest. He later created “the bread of yesterday and tomorrow”, using unsold bread from the previous day as part of an anti-waste initiative.
Always seeking inspiration, Castel also collaborates with artists on Yule logs, saying their ideas push him to experiment. — AFP
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