So Good, the Magazine of Haute Patisserie: #18, July 2017
We live in times of exhibitionism. Everyone shows off everything,
but everyone copies from everyone else.
Leonardo di Carlo says as much in So Good 18:
'What I do not like about current pastry is the lack of identity.
If you take a tour of social networks, you see all kinds of creations copied and replicated,
a huge number of glazed and soulless cakes.' In fact, what was once a trend is today excess and repetition.
Shapes, colors, decorations, everything is repeated ad nauseam.
There is no single color pantone that has not been used to dye a glaze.
Everything is round, smooth, colorful and shiny.
At this point Frederic Bau weighs in: 'Decoration should be like a divine sauce on a fish or meat
that covers a preparation with delicacy, elegance and character. Something we see very infrequently.'
Bau also refers to the increasingly absent imprint of the artisan's hand in the presentations:
'Today pastry and chocolate making do not sufficiently feel the hand of the artisan,
with minimal personal touch...I make an invitation to audacity and to reflect on being as singular as possible,
and to preserve emotion.'
We are not saying that we must return to earlier times to rediscover a more artisan idea of the trade.
Everything is part of evolution. We should not forever banish certain resources that may have practical utility.
It is not the mold or the glaze, but the use that is made of that mold or that glaze.
In short, we are talking once again of personality, of singularity and personal style.
But something is starting to change. There are already many chefs that start to cross other roads
and that are separated from an already worn aesthetic. They are professionals like Lior Shtaygman,
who also advocates for an 'as fresh, moist, crispy or soft as possible' pastry in this edition,
all accompanied by a very personal 'raw' and 'rough' presentation.