Onward pies, the return to favor of the pâté-croute

The classic France-England match could soon be played on the lamination field. Because British chef Calum Franklin, nicknamed the “king of pie” by Jamie Oliver, is moving to Paris in the
tier de l'Opéra (Public House, 21, rue Daunou, Paris-2nd) with its hot pork pâtés, artistic puff pastries and devilish toppings! The land of pie had better watch out, because Britain has traditions to spare when it comes to pie. During one of his frequent visits to Paris, Calum Franklin, who defines himself as a “pastry deviant” and obsessed with crust dishes to the point of almost not sleeping for weeks until a recipe is ready – made, explained that pies are an integral part of the English culinary tradition: “Originally, we called it “coffin”, which refers to the coffin in which we are placed in coffin, because the dough which surrounded the filling n It was there only to prevent the meat from burning during cooking. We threw away the dough afterwards! »

Return the lamination to the card

His all-consuming passion for pies started a bit by chance: “After opening the Holborn Dining Room in the Rosewood in London in 2014, I found an old mold in the shape of a corset in the basement of the hotel. dating from the Victorian era. Within my teams, no one knew how to use it. I rushed to the library. I studied more than 600 works and realized that if we did not preserve this know-how, we were going to lose it. I started collecting old molds, working hard to develop the best recipes, the perfect balance between dough and filling, and I put the pies, the beef Wellington and the puff pastry back to the map. » The success was such that the man who would also have liked to be an architect was able to design, design and open his Pie Room in 2018. All-London flocks there to taste or take away the best of British savory pastries. And the biggest restaurants send their chefs there for training courses. The opening in Paris of a brasserie version of its Pie Room proves that the craze is not confined to Great Britain.
Across the Channel, charcuterie puff pastry is also one of the bases of classic cuisine. And the demonstration of real technical mastery. No wonder that pâté has escaped from Lyon's bistros to appear on the menu of gourmet tables. The three-star chef Kei Kobayashi, of Japanese origin, even tackled a monument of this kind: the Belle Aurore pillow, a clever and tasty marriage of around fifteen meats, poultry, game, making up the precious garnish of a pâté requiring two days of preparation. In Brussels, Karen Torosyan, two-star chef at Bozar Restaurant, also stands out for her virtuosity in terms of koulibiac, pâté-croute, pithiviers or even bouche à la reine which require impeccable technique and products.

In Paris, neo-caterers and leading charcutiers like Maison Verot, Arnaud Nicolas or Lastre Sans Apostrophe are the new stars of foodies. Including the youngest, who swoon over the puff pastry pie of pigeon and foie gras served in the fall at the restaurant Le Servan of the Levha sisters (Paris-11th), the doe Wellington carved by Simon Horwitz at Elmer (Paris-3rd ) or the pithiviers of the very popular Doyenné, in Saint-Vrain in Essonne, cooked up by the Australians James Henry and Shaun Kelly. These game season essentials now even have their vegetable and more affordable version in neo-bistros like Pantagruel (Paris-2nd) with its leek and smoked herring pithiviers, or even poultry, with the comforting pie stuffed with chicken and in the county of chef Marie-Anna Delgado at Paloma, in the Belleville district (Paris-20th).

Old puff pastries?

Certainly not! Thanks to more and more books offering recipes for pies and crusted dishes, beef Wellington is all the rage in city dinners. And a lot of effect on the accounts of food influencers. Great Britain leads here one goal to zero in our savory puff pastry match since it is an English recipe… But nothing prevents you from participating at home with the selection of recipes in this file.
And if you're short on time, take the time to head to 34, rue Saint-Sauveur, in the center of Paris. Albane Auvray and Hugo Riboulet, two young 25-year-old talents noticed in the last season of “Top Chef”, opened Groot la Tourte, a street food concept that is, to say the least, unprecedented: taking gastronomy out of the big houses and making it accessible to all in the form of homemade pies (from €15.90 each, grootlatourte.com). In an iodized, gourmet, veggie version (candied celery, brown mushrooms, smoked garlic cream and granny smith) or classic (buttered cabbage, mushrooms, yellow Landes poultry and free-range pig stuffing from Le Bourdonnec), we enjoys it at the counter, the better to watch the duo assemble, roll, shape, cut, garnish in layers, decorate and brown the dough. For sure, the brilliant and frankly delicious idea will catch on. The two young entrepreneurs fully intend to grow and open other locations. And why not in England? Just to restart the match…

The book to devour

“The Book of the very exclusive club of pie enthusiasts”
Everything, everything, everything, you will know everything about the pies, the making of the pasta, the finesse of the puff pastry, the tricks and decorating ideas of Calum Franklin, chef of the Pie Room in London, who gives us here 80 recipes. Ed. Practical Hatchet, €35.