confiseur

Bettys and Taylors-the owners of (I know, I'm sorry their not in London) the estimable Bettys tea-rooms would be no.1 on my list. www.bettysandtaylors.co.uk

Redsugar..............the recipe with milk was given to me by Christine Ferber-a well known pastry-chef in the Alsace-I also used it at the famous (in Switzerland at least) Richemont school in Luzern. You can of course vary the fat content in the glaze depending on what your preferences are-some prefer a firmer,others a free-flowing glaze. There are of course a plethora of recipes for opera glaze and I have no issue whatsoever whether you are using either a softened couverture or a ganache based recipe. However a lot of people do seem to use pate a glace in a ganache style recipe,and though I realise the appearance will be acceptable the taste certainly leaves a lot to be desired

You can use couverture mixed with ca. 3-5% neutral flavoured oil or the following recipe will give a nice finish: 250g Cream-35% fat 190g Milk 150g Glucose Bring to the boil and add to 520g Chocolate couverture-50-60% cocoa solids Cool down to 35-40c and stir in 90g unsalted butter

Try La Potiniere on main street Gullane East Lothian 01620 843 214.......about 20 mins out of town. It is owned by Mary Runciman who cooks and Keith Marley who makes the desserts-They both did the rounds in London and have been there about 18 months now. I will be there for lunch next Wednesday........be warned though, for lovers of sea water sorbet, cabbage flavoured ice cream,trout with banana mousse etc and other such pretentious tosh its definately the wrong place

Simdelish........a very amusing story.....! ........ but there is a quasi-tragic side to this with regards to PC's. How many times have you seen a picture of Exec. Chefs with 'their' creations in a magazine when you know for a fact that the guy/gal couldnt bake to save his/her life and there was no mention or crediting of the pastry chef anywhere in the article. An unfortunate fact is that I have never heard (Switzerland being the notable exception) of a PC earning more than an Exec Chef so I suspect that at the end of the day the savoury guys have the last laugh.

Anni.......... Great that you have such an opportunity......I have attended both Lenotre and Bellouet regularly over the last few years and can highly recommend them . Both schools are full of top class craftsmen with never less than 3 MOF's on-sight at any one time. Lenotre is a fraction more traditional than the more 'modern' Bellouet which is in its turn somewhat smaller and does not have quite as good facilities as Lenotre. Bellouet is however better situated being only half a mile from the nearest metro where-as Lenotre is located 45 minutes from Paris. After class we all used to rush into town to look at the pastryshops,this is not very convenient from Lenotre. Concerning cost,their is not much difference between the two and both have contacts should you wish to prolong your stay with a working break in France. English is understood at both schools though a basic knowledge of the French language would be helpfull to facilitate your learning . If you have a chance to go..........take it...... you can always take classes at home but such an experience is not to be missed .

I can only echo Wendy.......however you may want to increase the honey and reduce the sugar to give a more defined taste.

Pierre Herme is certainly not avant-garde a la Adria, Blumenthal etc. (and Tan neither is that delicious sounding Tequila sunrise) You will definately not find him making cabbage flavoured ice-cream or sea-water sorbet. Creativity is great but putting a banana on top of a burger is not being creative,and the suggestion that those who do not agree with this belong to the flat-earth society shows a certain intolerance. I quite like being dazzled by science, its being baffled by b******t that bugs me.

Personally, I like sardines and I love bacon and eggs but not neccasarily as an ice cream flavour. While neither approving nor disaproving of the avant-garde there does seem to be an awful lot of pretentious tosh around. I can see the point of using beetroot juice for example in a fruit jelly, however the idea of eating :'Trout filled with blackcurrant mousse on minted banana sauce' does not fill me with joy. Call me an old stick-in-the-mud if you will but I think our avant-garde coleagues would be better advised to learn basic drawing skills before thinking they are the next Picasso.

Alain......... Thank you for the information. Much appreciated

Thank you Wendy......... I know its not an easy ask particularly as most of the forums members are based States-side of the water. I am familiar with Wittamar and Marcolini who are both excellent but after that I am struggling, however no great problem if nothing turns up-I will eat my way through Brussels excellent chocolate shops instead!

I have a couple of well earned days off at the end of August.........and will be visiting Brussels.......Can anyone recommend me any pastry shops to visit?. I know of Wittamar and Marcolini on the Place Sablon,but thats all. Any information gratefully received.

Thank you for the recipe nightscotsman. I used glucose instead of corn syrup, it worked perfectly,lots of happy people!........ If you have any other simple-but-good recipes or even complicated and good! I would be delighted to try them out. With thanks

Firstly......duckduck and SteveKlc, thank you for welcoming me onto the forum.......it really is much appreciated. There are certainly some interesting points raised which I can certainly take on board, particularely the comments by Tan and Steve that the WPC is a small facet of what pastry is about eg. over the last few years I have visited cake dec exhibitions/competitions in the US, S.Africa and the UK ,the standard of work in Sugarcraft and Royal icing exhibited there was far,far higher than anything you will see in any of the French or German speaking countries- I am sure you can all supply countless examples in various other decorative mediums ,let alone without going into the whole range of desserts,cakes,pastries, puddings etc. duckduck.......I dont doubt for a second that the organisers did a great job-the pictures alone prove that-and as for anyone doing it better........well if ever such a thought entered my own head the men in white coats would come and drag me off to one of those nice hospitals where the rooms have rubber walls and give me lots of sedatives till I was judged to be sane again....... However the central point has yet to be convincingly addressed-if you set something up and then call it `World Championship`it should be seen to be scrupulously fair in all areas-(and the judging procedure alone is a huge improvement on rival competitions) The fact is and there is no denying it, the last 2 "USA" winning teams contained the grand total of 1 American. Frankly folks this is just not on. In all forms of endeavour,sporting or otherwise,national teams consist of the nationals of the relavant country eg,the Spanish represent Spain,the Germans represent Germany,the Koreans represent Korea, the Americans represent the US,it is not too difficult a concept to grasp is it? A certain Mr L. Armstrong has been caning the French in there premier race,the Tour de France in recent years ........can anyone envisage the French putting an American on there national team even if they are a class better than there own people?..........no, I dont think so either.Oh.......and there are plenty of Americans who ride professionally.live and pay taxes in France so that is another argument shot down in flames...........next please. As for the reported lack of sportsmanship from the Belgian and French teams-well I have competed in Belgium (not yet in France) and have been on the wrong end of a questionable decision.Hopefully I wasnt such a bad loser! Chocomag,your seeking to justify/excuse the poor sportsmanship of the Belgians and French is with all due respect a little weak, these `young men`in question as you say are in there late 30s! If they have not learnt humility and good manners by now they never will.If you are happy enough to take the plaudits when you win you should be man enough to take it on the chin when you dont. To coin a sporting analogy,if a tennis player at Wimbledon or the US open had behaved as badly as has been reported I doubt very much if they would even have the option to come back,and if they did what message would this send to the other players?

Sorry that I offer a different opinion.........but then again I do not 'idolize and adore' any French pastry chefs-great craftsmen that they are.

Wendy........... I coudnt have put it better myself....... Oh and as as I am neither French nor American and have therefore no axe to grind one way or the other I find it is just comical that the last 2 'USA' winning teams comprised the grand total of 1 American.

Perhaps its just getting all too complicated........... However a good start would be for the Belgians only to represent Belgium, French to represent France, Americans to represent the US etc etc........ Shock-horror-what an outrageous suggestion I hear you say ,and I realise in certain quarters this will be seen on a par as marrying your sister, but doesnt it seem to have a small amount of logic? There certainly seems to be a hired-gun element about this contest and there are certain vested interests-however with big money prizes and plenty of perceived national prestige at stake no one should be suprised at the political games going on.

Hello Tan ........ Nice to kick off with an intelligent reply!.....You are possibly right that they are not doing it just for France......I am not convinced however that they are doing it just for the US either. As for the ....only game in town....I am also not convinced, we now have 3 so called world championships what with the Coupe du Monde and the UIPC (mainly European only) world championship. The danger is ,if they are not seen to be correct in all procedures there will be a prolifereration and therefore dilution of such titles much as there is in boxing with 4-5 'champions' at all weight levels. My money was on Vegas to come out on top but after the recent events, and I am by no means the only pastry professional who have voiced there misgivings about the make up of various teams I am now not so sure. This nettle will have to be grasped otherwise I can certainly envisage other competing competitions will be set up to the detriment of all.

Good evening everyone........ Firstly thank you for putting up the pictures on the forum. This is great for people like me who would have loved to have come to Vegas but where unfortunately not able due to work commitments. Reading the comments and hearing from a friend who competed in Vegas it seems the French and Belgians were not exactly happy about the judges final decision. Was this a case of the French throwing there rattle out of the pram and simply sour grapes? or was there actually a case to answer? Also,somewhat more contentiously the winning 'USA' team seemed to consist of French pastry chefs anyway...... also if my memory serves me correctly the previous 'US' team who won also contained just French pastry chefs hmm... I can also remember that a top Swiss pastry chef was a winner of the Coupe du Monde...... I have been reading that the US contains a lot of native talent.....which I for one am convinced it does and the US is certainly big enough to find 3 top pastry chefs so why are not US born citizens representating the States? Sorry folks but the argument that these guys live and pay taxes in the States is a pretty weak one or does an American who lives in China become Chinese? I do not think so. We are probably all in agreement that French pastry chefs are the worlds best at the moment as in years gone by the Swiss were,however I think that for a proper standing of where US pastry stands it is much better to come last with your own people than have a team of mercenarys.If you can obtain Journal de Patissier in August these guys-great pastry chefs that they are-no question, will not be trumpeting there allegiance to the stars and stripes. The situation as such reminds me of the situation in the 80s when US sprinters dominated the world scene-practically every European country was getting 'there' American athelete on there own team-fortunately this is not longer possible. When are the powers-that-be going to do the same or should every team stock up with whoever they want?........but they won the trials you cry...... again poor argument, to go back to atheletics anybody can compete in trials and the first 3 nationals go to the games and if they are 6th,7th and 8th then so be it they are the ones. Before any over patriotic flag waver or Gallic colleague starts bleating racist.....I have spent the majority of my life out of my native country and have many dear friends of all nationalities.