Bbaker in Brissac-Loire-Aubance (Maine-et-Loire), Sylvain Belouin got up at midnight thirty, Saturday January 6. It’s a little early, some will say. It’s not when you have to bake 400 brioche or frangipane pancakes at the start of the Epiphany weekend. The craftsman felt a “little break” during the day, and for good reason: he had gone to bed the day before at 11:30 p.m., that is… an hour earlier. Sylvain Belouin was returning from Paris, where he had gone to the traditional galette at the Elysée, at the invitation of the President of the Republic.
There were lots of people around the Head of State: Nina Métayer, the recent world pastry champion; Pierre Hermé, the pope of the macaron; Guillaume Gomez, the former head of the presidential palace; many MOF (Meilleurs Ouvriers de France) in the food sector. And him: Sylvain Belouin, French pain au chocolat champion. “It’s still nice to set foot at the Elysée when you come from your little countryside”he still marvels today.
He received his title, awarded by the National Confederation of French Bakery and Pastry, on October 30, 2023, during the Salon du chocolat in Paris. The young man (27 years old) got up just as early that day to make five “shock breads” of 55 to 65 grams in his laboratory, before jumping in his car and carrying them to the members of the jury before 9:30 a.m.
Forty-two candidates from all over France took part in this culinary competition, the criteria of which relate as much to the taste of the pastries as to its visual appearance. Enhanced by a touch of honey, Sylvain Belouin’s chocolatine would be nothing without the baker’s skill to harmoniously laminate the dough. After cooking, beautiful cream-colored cells form inside the treat, stuffed with two bars of 56% Ecuadorian dark chocolate.
“Flour and water”
Strong local enthusiasm followed the media coverage of his victory. With a volume of 120 units, its daily production of pain au chocolat rose to 800 in the following days, before stabilizing at 350. A godsend for its bakery and pastry shop, purchased only ten months ago with two partners, Anne-Charlotte and Thomas Crombez, who were his first bosses. It was at their home, in the neighboring town of Mozé-sur-Louet, that he made his first flutes, at the age of 14. Raised by his grandparents, the teenager left school and joined a rural family home (contract school offering work-study programs). Two CAPs will follow (one in baking, the other in pastry) and a technical trade certificate (BTM) in pastry. His business now has 20 employees and apprentices. Around 400 traditional baguettes and 600 pastries come out of its bakery every day.
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