|
Heritage of the golden age of French gastronomy at the beginning of the XIX century, the petit fours have a unique history.
A symbol of conviviality, buffets lunch were notably introduced by Napoléon Bonaparte who detested the long ritual of sitting diners and who, preferring action, liked to move around to meet his guests.
Antonin Carême, Urbain Dubois, Jules Gouffé… old masters who, along with talented little hands, handed down to us an exceptional know-how.
They improved in particular the pastry of the “Petit Four” (small oven), the one which cooks in a mild oven temperature. As a result this name has become a generic term for all fine and delicate pastries.
“Sugar mixed with various ingredients results in this multitude of light pastries which form this quite recent art of small oven pastry cooking” Brillat Savarin – 1826.
For the salted varieties: canapés, savorys, appetizers and tapas multiply flavours and tasting moments, thus initiating a new conviviality, the gastronomy of today.
The frontier between salted and sweet varieties becomes blurred, the field of investigation widens. New concepts, other techniques, there is no limit for creativity and quality! |
