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