Bouchon Bakery (The Thomas Keller Library)

401 Pages·2016·40.148 MB·English

by  Thomas Keller

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Also by Thomas Keller
Ad Hoc at Home
with Dave Cruz,
along with Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman, and Amy Vogler
Under Pressure
with Jonathan Benno, Corey Lee, and Sebastien Rouxel,
along with Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman, and Amy Vogler
Bouchon
with Jeff rey Cerciello,
along with Susie Heller and Michael Ruhlman
The French Laundry Cookbook
with Susie Heller and Michael Ruhlman
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Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel
With Susie Heller, Matthew McDonald, Michael Ruhlman, and Amy Vogler
Photographs by Deborah Jones
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Copyright © 2012 by Thomas Keller
Photographs copyright © 2012 by Deborah Jones
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced—mechanically, electronically,
or by any other means, including photocopying—without written permission of the publisher.
Published by Artisan
A division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4381
artisanbooks.com
Published simultaneously in Canada by
Thomas Allen & Son, Limited
Keller, Thomas
Bouchon Bakery / Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel ; with Susie Heller, Matthew
McDonald, Michael Ruhlman, and Amy Vogler ; photographs by Deborah Jones.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-57965-435-1
1. Baking. 2. Bouchon Bakery. I. Rouxel, Sebastien. II. McDonald, Matthew.
III. Title.
TX719.K345 2012
641.5944—dc23 2012000695
Design by Level, Calistoga, California
Printed in China
First printing, September 2012
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
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To the world of pastry chefs and bread bakers who delight us every day
with the simplicity of their craft and the wonders they produce.
And to my brothers James, Robert, and Joseph; my sister, Judith; and my late brother, Michael.
—Thomas Keller
To past, present, and future pâtissiers and to the chefs who inspired me in my career.
And to my dear family—my wife, Andrea; our daughters, Ava and Grace; my in-laws, Rob and
Naomi Brantjes; and my parents, Henri and Hélène—for their endless support and love.
—Sebastien Rouxel
To my wife, Kristina, whose love and support make my work worthwhile.
—Matthew McDonald
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Contents
92 158 186
000
30 126
EVERY MORNING IN PARIS 8
PECAN SANDIES FOR MY MOM 10
THE ROAD TO BOUCHON BAKERY 13
ENTER SEBASTIEN 16
FROM THE LOIRE VALLEY TO NAPA VALLEY 19
A BREAD BAKER’S JOURNEY 20
THROW OUT YOUR MEASURING CUPS 24
THE ETERNAL QUESTION 28
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66 336
COOKIES 30
SCONES & MUFFINS 66
CAKES 92
252
TARTS 126
212
PATE A CHOUX 158
BRIOCHE & DOUGHNUTS 186
PUFF PASTRY & CROISSANTS 212
BREADS 252
CONFECTIONS 336
BASICS 372
SOURCES 382
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 385
INDEX 391
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Every Morning in Paris
When I was twenty-eight, I lived on the top fl oor of 15, rue de Vouille. On the ground fl oor
was a tiny boulangerie. Every morning I woke to the smell of baking bread. But before I got to Paris, my time in France hadn’t
gone well. It took me several years of building up contacts to fi nd a stage there. At last I did, at a Michelin-starred restaurant in
Arbois, a small city near the Swiss border. My traveling friends dropped me off at the hotel where I was to work. The gruff matron
showed me to my cell-like room, which was In a short time, I had my fi rst Parisian
barely big enough for the bed. Strangely, the stage, one of seven. For fi fteen months, I
single window was almost completely black. immersed myself in the cuisine of France,
When I was taken to the basement kitchen, working at diff erent restaurants, ending
I realized why: the kitchen still relied on a at the Michelin three-star Taillevent. It
coal-burning stove, and my room was right was here that I witnessed the structure and
above the chimney. organization, the attention to detail and
It wasn’t just the kitchen stove that consistency that made one of the world’s
evoked a past era of cooking—everything great restaurants what it was.
was antiquated. I had come from working at Open fi ve days a week, Taillevent served
The Polo Lounge, where young chefs Patrice lunch and dinner, so I had a great schedule. I
Boely and Daniel Boulud were preparing arrived in the morning and helped to prepare
really forward-thinking cooking. I had spent the mise en place for lunch service. When
three years searching for a stage only to learn lunch was done and the kitchen cleaned, by
how to cook on a coal-burning stove? In 3:30 or so, we’d have a break when I could
desperation, I called Serge Raoul, a New York hang out with my fellow cooks, walk in a park,
restaurateur for whom I’d worked and whom or take a French lesson. We had to be back at
I considered a friend. 5:30 (dinner didn’t begin until 8:00 or so),
He told me to take the next train to and one of my afternoon jobs was to make the
Paris, where he had an apartment. I could marquise au chocolat, one of the restaurant’s
stay there while I regrouped. Rue de Vouille signature desserts, for the next day. It was a
was in the fi fteenth arrondissement, a very rich confection, kind of a cross between
lovely middle-class neighborhood, with mousse and ganache. It was sliced and served
small shops and bars and brasseries. My with a pistachio sauce. I love chocolate,
bedroom window framed the Eiff el Tower. so I loved making it. It became one of the
A good sign. highlights of my day and of my time in France.
Bouchon Bakery 8
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I learned so much during those months It had quickly become clear to me they would gather in the morning, and in
in France in 1983 and 1984. It was where I how central bread was to life in Paris. the afternoon. People come together at and
fi rst worked with foie gras, and with more The boulangerie in my building was maybe around bakeries. Baking is a unifying force.
obscure cuts we weren’t used to in the United 100 square feet of retail space; the ovens The smell of baking bread is universally
States, like lamb breast. It’s where I had were in the back. I was fascinated by the man adored for a reason: it appeals to us at the
my fi rst macaron, that most extraordinary who baked the bread. I saw that a man could core of our humanness. It’s the smell of
of cookies. And where I tasted my fi rst real devote his life to baking bread, and that it sustenance and security. To enjoy that aroma
croissant and mille-feuille (I was in heaven was a good life, a worthy profession and even before I was conscious of the new day
when I was eating one of those). Three days a one to be revered. That was very powerful had a great impact on me—one I didn’t truly
week, a wonderful, noisy food market set up for me. realize until, well, now, trying to understand
on my street selling fresh chickens, cheeses On our way to the metro I’d pass at least why on earth I have fi ve bakeries. I’m a
I’d never heard of, saucissons secs, and jambon three boulangeries, of all diff erent calibers. restaurant chef, a savory cook—what am I
cru, then unavailable back home. I was living The one in my building made bread and doing with fi ve bakeries?
at the heart of a thoroughly food-centric rustic little apple tarts. A second one sold The reason is bread, and croissants,
culture. large, garish meringues. The fi nest one macarons, puff pastry, apple tarts, and mille-
But looking back on it now, from an made the most beautiful mille-feuilles feuilles.
emotional standpoint, my most enduring and tarts. I’d never seen apple tarts like Per se and The French Laundry, highly
memory is of waking up every morning to that theirs, slices of apple, each one perfect, in refi ned restaurants, speak to only a small
smell of baking bread. The central staircase concentric rings, with a glossy sheen of a segment of the population. Even our bistro,
of our old building had been renovated to glaze. I couldn’t aff ord them, but they were Bouchon, and our family-style restaurant,
contain a tiny elevator, and I’d take this beautiful to behold, and they taught me Ad Hoc, have specifi c, somewhat narrow,
downstairs, pay a franc fi fty for a demi- about the level of excellence a bakery might audiences. Bread does not. Pastries do not.
baguette (I had little money), and head back strive for. They are universal. And that is one source
up. I’d share the bread with my housemate— I also learned that a bakery is an anchor— of my desire to off er baked goods to as many
we cooked at the same restaurant—with it draws a community around it. People would people as possible, and why I’m so excited to
butter and jam and coff ee. sit in the bakeries to eat their croissants; be sharing the craft in this book.
Every Morning in Paris 9
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