The French start their day with a light breakfast, it’s typically café au lait, hot chocolate, or tea; a roll with butter, marmalade and a croissant. Being born in France, I was well aware of it but I was never really interested in baking. It was all an accident. I just wanted to make some money to buy my first bike and I joined a bakery.
I worked in Paris, Florida, Delhi, Mumbai, Cairo, Russia, Cambodia, and Melbourne. But I have spent almost eight years in India. My wife is from Mizoram. I wouldn’t say I am fond of Indian cuisines though…they are very spicy. I don’t cook when I am home…my wife doesn’t like my cooking because I like cooking non-spicy food (laughs).
I have been a pastry chef for more than 25 years and I have opened several five-star restaurants all over the world. 2010 was an exciting year of my career. I was teaching children to bake cookies, muffins and chocolate soufflé.
When I started Boganvila Patisserie & Café in Chennai, getting the ingredients was tough. Almost 70% of the ingredients I use are imported. The most important part of a French meal is the baguette, a long, thin loaf of crusty bread. Everyone at the table is expected to eat a piece. It has to be made fresh every day but it also depends on the climate. In Chennai, I make the baguette in the afternoon so that they remain fresh till night.
One major challenge in baking is consistency. I believe practice makes a man perfect. You have to follow the process religiously and go through each and every step carefully. If that’s done, anyone can be a chef (smiles). When I chart my menu, I always look out for seasonal fruits. For instance, mango...you can prepare endless dishes like cheesecake, tiramisu, moose etc.
Baking is a work of patience and my Graffiti cake stands testimony to that. The one I made has four layers in it and it takes three days to prepare one cake. It cannot be done in a hurry.