A few months ago we saw a program about French pastry chefs that left us with tears in our eyes (imagine working for 4 years on your masterpiece and then dropping it out of your hands at the ‘moment suprême’!) After this film , we had our hearts set on finding our own M.O.F. de patisserie (Meilleurs Ouvriers de France or Best Craftsmen) next time we were in France. But it’s not like you can find them on every street corner or by following the big signs by the road. They are sort of hidden gems and finding one in the area we were visiting (Normandy) turned me into a girl with a mission.
So 10 minutes and lots of euro’s later we were out on the street again with our ‘spoils’. It’s just impossible not to want to buy something of everything that looks so appealing and when would we get another chance like this right? So who cares that the caramels au beurre salé cost 24 euro and the macaron are more precious than gold, we can skip lunch and dine another day. So, no regrets, only a sugar rush. And the verdict? Well, like all things that are 4 times more expensive than average, it was really good but probably not 4 times as good…
Wouldn’t it be fun to do a tour of France and visit all the patisserie MOF’s and see which one is the best of the best? I can imagine somebody already doing it right now, and if they survive this adventure we would sure like to hear from them.
Caramel au beurre salé du MOF, currently trying to make our own and with promising results!
The gate to sugar heaven…but the signs that this really is ‘un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France’ are not ‘in your face’.
Who can resist? What colour to taste first…will they be chewy? I will keep this box, it looks so nice!
O la la chocola, fou du fafa, we love the little crunch of praliné!
These French strawberries can only be dipped in crème fraîche when in Normandy…
This Mont d’Or cheese is neither in season nor from the Normandy region but who’s complaining when sitting in the sun looking out on a bucolic scene with a glass of local poiré.
Our Fällkniven hunting knife from Sweden can be trusted to do the job of slicing cheese and bread on any picnic in any country.
More information on Patisserie Dupont
More information on meilleurs ouvriers de France and locating them
Marieke says
October 8, 2010 at 20:24Thank you Akiko,
The heart shapes I have never seen in France before or anywhere else. First master the round ones and then maybe go on to making other nice shapes.
Marieke
Akiko says
October 6, 2010 at 00:19I thought that you may be interested in this recipe.
Happy baking,
Akiko