A Social, Historical, and Culinary Exploration of 10 Symbols of French Pâtisserie (Isabella H. '21)

Since I had already taken all the French classes offered at UHS, I wanted to find a way to continue studying French and not lose my fluency while also combining it with something I was passionate about: baking. I decided to conduct an exploration of French pâtisserie through a cultural and literary lens, by researching the history and evolution of ten French pastries, some well-known and some little-known. These included the madeleine, the religieuse, the Paris-Brest, the galette des rois, the marquise, the bûche de noël, the éclair, the millefeuille, the macaron, and the gâteau napoléon. Each week, I researched a specific pastry as well as a related historical or literary subject, ranging from Marcel Proust’s famous exceptionally long description of the experience of eating a single madeleine, to how French pâtisserie has adapted to increasing globalization and modernization, including for instance rethinking traditional methods to suit a vegan (or “végétalien”) diet, and the incorporation of CBD in baking.

Because I wrote up long descriptions each week, I thought it would be a little overwhelming to translate each one and include all of them in the symposium, so I chose 2 different gâteaux (la madeleine and le macaron) with 2 different accompanying sujets historiques (Proust's "À la recherche du temps perdu" and le végétalisme) to summarize in English so you can get a glimpse into my independent study!

For more info, please visit http://isabellahochschild.tech/spring-2020-independent-study.

(and if anyone is interested and wants to learn more, here are the links to the syllabus I created for myself and my research notes from this semester.)

https://www.surlatable.com/madeleines-with-honey-lavender-ice-cream/REC-233587.html

The madeleine is a traditional cookie from Lorraine in the form of a shell that dates back to the Middle Ages. Scallops (known as “coquilles Saint-Jacques” in French) were an emblem of pilgrimage and appeared along the famous route to Santiago de Compostela, so these cookies were created for pilgrims who passed by on that route. The name originated from a young girl named Madelaine (the “a” ostensibly evolved into an “e”...) who made these signature cookies for pilgrims. Historians also theorize tha Madeleine Paumier, the servant of Marquise Perrotin de Baumon, is the source of the name. The madeleine serves as a symbol of French culture, which was reinforced by Proust’s famous multipage description of his experience eating a madeleine accompanied by a cup of tea, which prompted a reflection on his childhood. Interestingly enough, while I was researching the history of this cookie, I came about this article from The Guardian that reveals that Proust’s original text featured the experience of eating either a honey-mixed toast or a biscotto, but in a later draft this treat was changed to a madeleine because it’s so unmistakably French.

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/salted-caramel-cinnamon-macarons/, https://www.marthastewart.com/1106683/french-macarons-basic-recipe

Macarons are small soft round cookies with a variety of colors and flavors. They are crunchy on the outside and delightfully soft on the inside. The traditional flavors of macaron include pistachio, strawberry, hazelnut, and vanilla, but pâtissiers are developing new flavors everyday, including Ladurée LA’s famous white chocolate-hemp macaron, often served with CBD oil teas.

Macarons date back to the Middle Ages. They were originally created in the Middle East and were then brought back to Italy by European travelers. Then, around the time of the Renaissance, Catherine de Medici married the Duc d’Orléans (who was destined to become the king of France) and when she traveled to France for her wedding she brought with her these small italian cookies that were initially known as “maccherones”. Interestingly, this name came about because of the same latin root shared with the French word “mâcher”, which means to chew, because this cookie is known to be chewy on the inside. At this time, macarons were prepared similarly to how they’re made today: with a base of almonds, sugar, and egg whites, but there was a key difference: these early cookies were not sandwiched together with a filling. It wasn’t until years after this pâtisserie appeared in France that certain regions, most notably Lorraine and Boulay, decided to make it their own. They came up with their own variations that involved putting a filling between two of these almond cookies, which led to the inception of the macaron passionnant that we know of today. These cookies did not become popular in mainstream French culture until a masterful marketing initiative from Ladurée popularized this cookie by referring to it as “Le Macaron Parisien,” cementing its relationship to the French capital and French culture on the whole. The first French author to discuss this distinctive cookie was Rabelais, a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar from the 16th century. There’s a popular French legend about this distinct round shape of the macaron. Apparently, there was once a monk in the South of France who liked to knead the almond paste naked. One day, he was very tired and fell asleep, leaving the imprint of his navel on the dough. Then, the macaron adopted a round shape. Today, the macaron is “un phénomène mondial” (a global phenomenon)! Even though this cookie had very simple origins (and was originally from abroad), it evolved greatly to become a symbol of French pâtisserie and a staple in boujee bakeries worldwide.

The madeleine is a symbol of French culture and a staple of French pâtisserie, and also famous for its appearance in Proust’s novel A la recherche du temps perdu. In his multipage description of his experience eating a madeleine accompanied by a cup of tea, Prousts reflects on his childhood and muses about French social norms. Interestingly enough, while I was researching the history of this cookie, I came about this article from The Guardian that reveals that Proust’s original text featured the experience of eating either a honey-mixed toast or a biscotto, but in a later draft, this treat was changed to a madeleine because it’s so unmistakably French.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Food is a lot more than sustenance.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Proust’s mother passed away in 1905, when the famous writer was 34. For him, writing about the madeleine was a way to connect himself with her and kickstart his memory, to reflect on his time with her during his childhood.

In French, there are two possible translations for the word vegan: “végétalien” and “végane.” The latter reflects the growing Anglicanization of the French language by adopting many English terms. In French pâtisserie, animal products are staples, but vegan pâtissiers have found new solutions and workarounds in their baking. For sugar substitutes, they often choose completely natural alternatives (since often “regular” sugar also contains animal products used during processing): agave, maple syrup, beet sugar, or unbleached sugar. Common butter/fat substitutes include vegan butter, coconut oil, margarine, applesauce and olive oil. Instead of eggs, vegan pâtissiers often use tofu purée, ground flaxseed mixed with water, chia seeds and water, baking soda with vinegar, banana, and aquafaba (which is the liquid from a can of chickpeas or black beans). There are many vegan alternatives to milk, namely coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, and rice milk. One particularly French development was the discovery of the magical properties of aquafaba, or “chickpea juice” (although juice is an incorrect term because it’s really the packing liquid from the jar of garbanzo beans). In 2014, the french singer Joël Roessel published his research on “écumes végétales” (vegetable foam) and a few months later, two other Frenchmen filmed a video of themselves preparing a dessert made out of the liquid from a can of chickpeas and chocolate ganache. I tried out this French discovery myself, making simple meringues using aquafaba en lieu of egg whites; the first batch was a complete failure because I used a bad recipe, so the cookies burned in the oven, but I tried again and the results were delicious! In my opinion, that is. There were also some unhappy customers who gave me reviews saying it “tasted like meat” (which seems unlikely) or like chickpeas (which seems likely). In the French TV show Le Meilleur Pâtissier , there was some controversy a few years back when Aymeric Caron, a vegan contestant, claimed that he had found new groundbreaking ways to make pâtisserie without animal products. The first vegan pâtisserie in Paris, VG Pâtisserie, was opened in 2017 by Bérénice Leconte.

On a global scale, the plant-based movement is growing (pun lowkey intended). France is one of the “most carnivorous” countries in the world, but due to potential health risks with the increasing cholesterol average and incidence of diabetes and cancer, there is a larger market there for plant-based products. At least 30% of French citizens are reducing their meat consumption, and purchases of plant-based protein products have increased by 82% since 2016, to 30 million euros. In addition, the amount of people who have adopted more vegan purchasing tendencies has increased by 25% every year since 2015. Politically, French President Emmanuel Macron recently forbade having the same nomenclature for plant-based products as their animal-sourced counterparts. It is therefore prohibited to say “soya steak,” “saucisse vegetarian,” or “lait d’amande.” As a result, many French companies have followed the idea of coming up with a name for the plant-based product that sounds the same as the animal-based product it’s supposed to act as a substitute for but is technically different, Australian companies to change the “i” in “milk” to a y.

GUIDING QUESTIONS