Armed with her exclusive invite, Katie Imms from Cost Sector Catering made her way to The Taste Lab (London) earlier this month, where she was met with a sumptuous spread of freshly-made, still warm from the oven pastries and bacon and egg butties... a sure sign of how the day was to go.
Pulling myself away just long enough to make introductions, alongside Roux were company representatives Pascal Schneider (Bridor marketing director), Marie Legoupil (marketing manager) and Bridor baker Jon Warwick, who flew in from France especially for the event.
And not to forget Frédéric Lalos - the youngest ever winner of the ‘Meilleur Ouvrier de France’ (Best French Baker) competition, all round bread genius, and whose name inspired the ‘Bridor by Frédéric Lalos’ collection.
Bringing the room to a hush, Roux - who was there to talk to us eager student journalists about the art of making classic French 'tartines gourmandes’ – kicked off with a brief introduction to the Lalos collection.
Praising its ‘exceptional quality,’ Roux has served a selection of the 17 loaves, baguettes and ciabattas across his restaurants for many years, claiming they ‘present endless opportunities for foodservice operators, even at the very highest levels.’
His favourite though? The ‘pochon’ loaf – a yeast-based recipe made from buckwheat and Camp Rémy wheat, and hand-formed into a four-fold bag shape.
Using the breads to form the basis of each ‘open sandwich,’ the three recipes come from Roux’s forthcoming book, ‘The French Revolution,’ which he hopes will help reimagine French cooking as quick, simple and easy-to-make.
Aimed at the ‘modern home cook,’ he gives classic French dishes a ‘healthy makeover’ - as we were to sample with the three tartines.
Emphasising the importance of fresh, seasonal produce, Roux’s table offered a sea of colour comprising only the best quality ingredients, from the honey to tinned anchovies (Roux is a massive fan of tinned food), goat’s cheese and figs.
To build up each of the tartines - Tartine Provencal (anchovy and tapenade), Tartine Bretonne (tinned sardine) and Tartine Chevre et Figues (goat’s cheese and fig) – the famous French chef toasted a slice of Lalos’ bread and then delicately arranged his toppings accordingly.
Then it was our turn…
Inspired by the beautiful array of colours of the rocket, voluptuous figs, golden honey and goat’s cheese, I tried my hand at the Tartine Chevre et Figues. Not only addictively delicious but – just as Roux set out to do – it was incredibly quick and simple to make.
As the day came to an end, Roux finished with: “It was a great pleasure to be asked to showcase some classic French tartine recipes, to celebrate Bridor’s 30th birthday in the UK.”
We raised a glass to Bridor and its 30-year success, wishing the bread specialist many more wonderful years ahead (and many more masterclasses as tasty as this one!)