It can happen like a desire to slip under the duvet. Concocting a cozy cocoon, making a protective envelope, close to the heat of the stove, is a way of providing a comforting double refuge. That of the dish to come, but also that of the cook at the helm, well tempted to caparison himself too, even by proxy, to escape all at the same time from the seasonal frosts, the ambient gloom and trouble of all kinds. Getting encrusted of your own free will is a perfect cushy program for respecting barrier gestures.
Since 2009, a world pie crust championship has raised the joke every year in the Lyon region
Unsurprisingly, the edible crust is most often made of pastry, puff pastry, shortcrust pastry, brioche, bread, pâté (with lard or butter)… Led by the emblematic figure of pâté en croute, pastry charcuterie is the subject of a spectacular return to favor over the past ten years, thanks to goldsmiths (Gilles Vérot and Yohan Lastre in Paris, Sébastien Zozaya in Biarritz, etc.) who have given it back a luster damaged by industrial substitutes. Since 2009, a world championship of pie crust raises the farce every year in the Lyon region, where the recipe has never experienced neither disgrace, nor preposition (en), nor dietary compromise. The 12and edition of the competition, in November 2021, was won by the Japanese Kohei Fukuda, with a recipe combining duck, foie gras, guinea fowl, pork throat, beef tongue, chicken livers, port, cognac and pistachio…
Strong regional accents
In the wake of the pâté, there are all the puff pastries (pies, pithiviers, vol-au-vents, etc.), most often meat dishes, but also vegetables or stuffed with fish, which are cheerfully crunched, with well-marked regional accents. Certain recipes of foreign origin have also become classics on our festive menus, such as Russian koulibiac with salmon or Anglo-Saxon beef Wellington (beef tenderloin, mushroom duxelles and spinach).
“When we put it on the menu, the Wellington was a discovery for our customers, even if it benefits from a fashion effect elsewhere”, testifies Edouard Beaufils, head of Bec, in Paradou, in the Alpilles. After learning the demanding technique in London from chef Calum Franklin, the chef based in the Baux-de-Provence valley has made it a popular speciality. So much so that it now offers “Wellington sessions” every last weekend of the month, because “It’s a recipe that takes time: [il] it starts five days in advance”! The reasons for its success? “It is appreciated as a piece of sharing, presented in its entirety at the table, but also for its pretty layers to admire once sliced on the plate, before seducing the taste buds. »
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