that, beginner french students!), eclairs, fruit tarts…Au Pavé du Roy
makes their own ice cream and sorbet, and has decadent ice cream
cakes! Can’t wait to try one. In the freezer case was an ice cream
cake with hazelnuts and a chocolate Hérissonne / Hérisson on top,
guess what that is! (Answer: Hedgehog). They are an amazing
chocolatier also. Chocolate cats, chocolate people, chocolate
sculpture for every holiday…Oh, my gosh, navettes Marseillaises!
We got one to try that day, yum!
One of the bakers was making a pastry cream – créme patisserie.
But this area is busier later in the day. The morning is meant for
breakfast pastries, breads and lunches.
Stage 3: Boulangerie: The bread ovens and bread stations are in
the far back of the Atelier. Which leads us to:
A day in the life of the Chef Boulanger at Au Pavé du Roy.
Chef Jean-Marc Cicala.
3:00 am:
Chef Cicala wakes up to go to work.
3:30-4:00 am:
He arrives at the atelier and lights the oven first.
4:00-5:00 am:
His team arrives. There is one baker and two apprentices.
The baker and adult apprentice arrive at 4 am.
The underage apprentice comes at 5 am.
6:00 am:
Everyone in the bakery has a coffee and one of their own
croissants or pain au chocolat. (except lately with the lock down,
it isn’t possible to get the coffee from the Café next door)
4:00 am – Noon:
Following is the order and explanation of what the bakers do.
Different breads require different amounts of kneading and rising.
Pétrissage: Kneading the dough
Pointage: Waiting for the dough to rise
Façonnage: Shaping of the dough
Stockage en chambre de pousse pour le lendemain:
Cold Storage of the dough to retard the rise
Cuisson: Cooking the bread
Petrissage– The first part of the process. The kneading machine
is started. This is not your typical dough hook in a KitchenAid
or a bread machine. It’s quite a large machine and duplicates the