Yazid Ichemrahen, the little prince of pastry

World champion of frozen desserts at the age of 22, the young man has won everything, lost everything, rebuilt everything. Inspiring meeting with the new creator of the sweets at Royal Monceau, the palace on Avenue Hoche.

There are encounters that touch you more than others. Yazid Ichemrahen is one of them. Social networks tell the story of the dazzling professional success of the little prince of pastry, world champion at 22, still between two planes, welcoming actors and fashionable models to the opening of his boutiques in Mykonos or New York. Reality puts you in the presence of a hard worker, sharp, attentive, with an aesthetic and a very clear vision of his job. He is an overwhelmed young man who has the elegance not to make you feel it. A surprising mixture of unfeigned humility, determination and carefully protected emotions, like grains in a vanilla pod, which must be scraped out and infused for a long time in the cream to reveal its intensity.

“Spoonable” desserts

Recently, in addition to its seven boutiques and the upcoming opening of its Parisian address, it watches over all the sweets served at the Royal Monceau, such as this irresistible tartlet-style cheesecake already on the menu at Bar Long at snack time . Once the impression of biting into a cloud combining liquid cream and Philadelphia has dissipated, the more you chew, the more the construction of tastes and textures takes shape. What to do but take another bite? Especially since, unlike some spectacular pastry creations that are complicated to taste, Yazid Ichemrahen only designs desserts with refined shapes. Beautiful, yes, but above all “spoonable”. For him, the technique should not be visible but should be used to extract the best from flavors through the play of textures, temperatures, tangy juices or smoky touches which rebalance the flavors. In order to reduce sugar as much as possible, he focuses on long infusions: “In the case of vanilla, for example, an infusion of 72 hours allows you to obtain such potency that it is useless to force the sugar. » A refinement that requires working with the best products: farm milk and cream, Isigny butter, homemade yogurt, Verlet coffee, chocolate from the Chocolaterie de l'Opéra, Fabbri pistachio paste…

“Pastry is so demanding, rigorous, precise, that it educated me. And also saved his life. »

Pastry as a school of life

“In terms of products, I’ve come a long way,” he smiles. My childhood references were canned fruit in syrup and boxes of industrial éclairs sold in packs of four. Including one free…” Because childhood was not kind to Yazid. Abandoned by a single mother who took drugs, he was placed in care at a very young age. The only light in this dark picture was the time spent with a loving host family, whose two eldest children worked in the kitchen and pastry shop. “I saw how much it made their mother, who I always call Auntie, happy when they cooked. I wanted to make her proud by making cakes. And because she read ELLE and watched Joël Robuchon's cooking show, “Bon Arrêt Course”, I swore to myself that one day, she would see me in one or the other. It followed me, even when I had to leave them to grow up in a foster home. Pastry is so demanding, rigorous, precise, that it educated me. And also saved his life. In a home, it's easy to slide down the wrong slope. The discipline necessary to learn this profession saved me from getting lost and ending up in prison. »

Through hard work, talent, a little nerve and a lot of courage, Yazid has completed all the stages, from apprenticeship in Paris to participation in the world frozen dessert championship. An inspiring journey, told in a biopic released in theaters in 2023, “Under the Stars”. With his champion title, this entrepreneur at heart quickly climbed the ladder and then opened successful boutiques in France and abroad. The global pandemic stopped it in its tracks. He lost everything and nearly lost himself altogether. Since then, he has rebuilt everything, never forgetting the setbacks suffered along the way. “In Paris, it happened to me dozens, a hundred times, to sleep in the street. Because I was still living in a hostel in Champagne and depending on my schedule and a last missed train, I had nowhere to go. Entering a palace like the Royal Monceau was an unattainable dream for me. So working on it today… Knowing that Pierre Hermé, one of my models, signed the desserts at Bar Long before me, that's no small thing. » This is where we will rush to taste its cheesecake or its 100% vanilla in three textures, while waiting for the opening of its future Parisian boutique. “There will be a coffee corner to relax, a space to cook in front of people so you can chat. We can see a sugar tart coming out of the oven, just like at home. » A place to live, in short, where to get to know each other. The “little prince of pastry”, basically, is a fox who creates bonds with cakes. It would be crazy not to take the time to tame it.

The Royal Monceau
37 BC Nod
75008 Paris
(01 42 99 88 00)
https://www.leroyalmonceau.com/

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