Don’t Call Me Honey

Earlier today I was watching one of my favourite TV shows. Its called qui sera la prochain grand patissier. You probably haven’t heard of it, but you should most definitely be watching it.

 

Anyway as of late, I’ve had a great deal of time to reflect on everything from Kim and Kanye’s wedding, to why someone would ever name their child Albus Severus, but one of the things that has been itching at my brain the most is the Topic of women in the kitchen. In the recent season or shall I say saison of qui sera la prochain grand patisier, they focused on Christelle Brua, the pastry chef at a three starred Michelin restaurant in France. I couldn’t help but notice that Christelle wasn’t man-ish, she had a full face of makeup on, and hair done up for the kitchen, her nails were well manicured, and her demeanour calm. Chef Christelle wasn’t yelling, her chef uniform curved to her figure, and I just couldn’t help but gaze in awe as she single handily represented female power in a male dominated industry.

 

Every experience I’ve had so far, in many a kitchens near or far, have all been the same. Try to be as manly as possible, in order to gain respect. Look at the all the top Chefs named this year… can you spot a woman? Better question, does she look like a woman? The other day I walked in a kitchen and the chef asked me sarcastically “how long did you spend getting ready today”? He was poking fun at the fact that I was wearing make up in a kitchen full of 15 or so men. I ask you this… Who would you rather have cooking your meal, the greasy guy that needs a shower, or someone who took the time to look nice, and carried the same efforts to your plate? Someday I hope to join the ranks of Christelle Brua or Christina Tosi, girls who are doing it differently, with style and grace.

Below are my bakes this week, a honey bumblebumble cake, and some breakfast crepes.

Le Goût De Bordeaux

Cannelé Bordelais, is a traditional French pastry. Said to be created by nuns who would get egg yolk donations from wineries in the Bordeaux region of France. The wineries would use only the egg whites to clarify their wine, leaving the rich fatty egg yolks to be discarded. Here in Canada you don’t see many pastry shops offering cannelé bordelais as a treat, and even If they did, I doubt there would be many takers. The outside of this sweet treat is sugar that has been caramelized in the oven for over an hour, and when sugar is caramelized without added fat, it turns quite dark. Unlike the French, us Canadians tend to prefer everything golden brown. I promise that behind that crispy caramelized shell, there is a soft cruller like centre. So next time you’re in Bordeaux, or anywhere that’s offering cannelé bordelais, go ahead and try one, you might be pleasantly surprised. I gave my own twist on the tradition, and made browned butter cannelé bordelais.

Transformation Tuesday

Bread, soft, crunchy and very versatile. Everybody body loaves it (hehe), and it’s easy to make. This week I made a pain viennoise, which means simple white bread. The only thing that’s not so great about bread it the fact that it only lasts about 24 hours. So below are some options for day old bread. I made a vanilla spiced French toast, and some pesto Parmesan croutons.