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00:00Well, there is just about a week to go until Christmas festivities here in France and food, of course, is a major part of the celebrations.
00:09Shellfish, smoked salmon, foie gras, that's goose liver, of course, are on most menus.
00:14And for dessert, the famous Yuletide log.
00:17Guy Kretsner joins me on set.
00:19He is the creative director and executive chef at Le Nôtre.
00:22He's also twice won the Meilleur Ouvrier de France or Champion Craftsman title.
00:27Thank you so much for joining us.
00:30So you've been head of creation at Le Nôtre for the past 20 years.
00:33Tell us how you devise these different dishes for the festive season.
00:38I mean, it all begins with inspirations.
00:42And what's very interesting is with my team, we draw and we get, you know, the magic of the seasons and we take care of the ingredients.
00:56And after that, we have the concept and we start to do basically, maybe we choose the chocolate, maybe caramel, maybe hazelnuts.
01:09And at the end, it's very, very interesting.
01:16You need to do the taste and you need to give, for example, to you what you think about it.
01:27And we refined it and maybe we sell it.
01:32And I imagine it's not necessarily always easy to both keep the traditional dishes in mind and also be creative and innovate every year.
01:40Yes, it's difficult.
01:41But as you can see, it's very interesting because tradition is very rare.
01:46We need to keep that.
01:47And when you can do like the foie gras, traditional foie gras, you give a touch because you know how to do it.
01:56And it's essential for the Le Nôtre company to do creative foie gras like this one and to have the traditional like this one.
02:05What are the traditional dishes in general for Christmas and then for New Year's here in France?
02:10Of course, the traditional dishes is foie gras, the duck foie gras, maybe goose foie gras.
02:16As far as I see, you have the first pâté de Strasbourg in 18th century.
02:27And I mean, in most of all the table, all the family, you have foie gras.
02:35But you can have maybe scallops, smoked salmon or whatever.
02:40And after you have la bûche de Noël.
02:44We are going to get to la bûche de Noël because you've brought a beautiful spread of some of the most traditional dishes that we eat here in France during the holidays.
02:53Can you tell us about what you brought?
02:55So I brought first the foie gras.
02:58And as you can see, you have the shape of the Christmas tree.
03:03But you have the ingredients.
03:05It's very important for us.
03:07They are quite perfect.
03:09So you can taste after.
03:12And you have a nine-month biscuit.
03:15So it's creative.
03:18But in case you like more traditional with all your family, you have the terrine of foie gras.
03:25And maybe you like truffles.
03:28We can put truffles inside.
03:30Beautiful.
03:31And then, of course, that's kind of the hors d'oeuvre, what we start with.
03:36But then on top of that, you have brought, of course, my favorite, which is the dessert.
03:40And you have also two versions of the dessert.
03:42Yes.
03:43The first one is the classical version.
03:45And you have chestnut.
03:48And as you can see, you have a light ganache.
03:53Creamy with vanilla inside.
03:55Sorry, but it's amazing.
03:58And inside you have a French meringue.
04:02So it's smooth, crispy.
04:05You have the chestnut confit, small biscuit, lightly punched with Armagnac.
04:12So it's a bûche.
04:14And of course, this one.
04:18This one is like, we call it signature.
04:21And I mean, I'm so proud because in my team, I have a best craft worker, world champion.
04:29And this time is Etienne Leroy.
04:32And he did this creation, as you can see, with chocolate.
04:37And, you know, all the leaves is like high chivalry.
04:43You know, I'm sorry because you need to taste.
04:48I can't wait.
04:49I was going to say I've never seen a more appetizing bûche.
04:52Inside you have citrus.
04:55You have hazelnut biscuits.
04:58You have a creamy chocolate from Ghana.
05:02It's an amazing product.
05:04And you have the shape and the story of the signature bûche.
05:11There's a lot of lucky people in this newsroom here on France 24
05:16because we're all about to enjoy these treats from the North.
05:19But just before we finish, I want to ask a last question for you.
05:24Do you have any tips for viewers who want to be successful?
05:27Maybe amateur chefs or people who are trying to, you know,
05:31really create something special for their families and want to do something
05:35that's a little bit more difficult than usual?
05:37I mean, with Yumo, the first, we have a school.
05:42So you come to the school and we show you how to do a bûche or foie gras, whatever.
05:51The second, as well with Yumo, we have shops in Paris so you can buy it.
05:56And, I mean, what is very interesting to do some food at home
06:04is to take care about the time.
06:09I mean, if you do like a classical bûche or foie gras, whatever,
06:13sometimes you do the first day.
06:16So you have too much recipe to do.
06:19And we call it preparation.
06:23So maybe the first day you do the biscuit and you do the cream
06:29and after you do the whole of it.
06:31And what is very interesting is to do it step by step.
06:35So basically don't procrastinate for such an important,
06:39insumptuous Christmas and New Year's meal, if I can.
06:43In case you call me and I show you.
06:46That we will certainly do.
06:48Thank you so much, Guy Krenzer, for coming on the show today.
06:52We're all very excited to try these treats.
06:56Well, of course, as a reminder to all of our viewers,
06:59you can actually find the recipe for this beautiful bûche Yuletide log
07:03in the latest Fou de Patisserie magazine, which is available online.
07:07You can see it there on screen now.