[Paris pastries / 巴黎甜點] 經典巴巴與各種重新詮釋 / Baba - classic and revisited (for English, please click "see more")
在各種經典法式甜點中，我一直有適應困難的就是「#baba」（巴巴）。
這個甜點的基本組成，是將 #加了葡萄乾與新鮮葡萄的布里歐許麵糰，在 #烤好之後浸漬在酒糖液中，最常見的是「rhum」蘭姆酒，另外也有其他如「Malaga」馬拉加甜酒、「Porto」波特酒、「Madeira」馬德拉酒等版本，經常會加 #香緹鮮奶油 做裝飾。
巴巴的命名來自 #阿里巴巴（Ali Baba）。沒錯，你沒有看錯，正是阿里巴巴與四十大盜的故事。十八世紀時由於政爭離開家鄉的波蘭國王 Stanisław I Leszczyński 後來在法國亞爾薩斯、洛林附近定居，他的女兒 Marie Leszczyńska 在 1725 年嫁給法王路易十五。Stanisław 的甜點師 Nicolas Stohrer 為了拯救太乾的布里歐許麵包（也有一說是亞爾薩斯當地的名產 kouglof 咕咕霍夫），靈機一動，以加了番紅花的 Malaga 馬拉加甜酒重新將其浸潤，另外還加上甜點奶餡與葡萄乾、新鮮葡萄等，創造了一個新的甜點。這個作品征服了身為美食家的 Stanisław 國王，傳說中他當時正沉醉於一千零一夜的故事中，所以將這個創新的甜點命名為阿里巴巴。
後來 Nicolas Stohrer 隨著國王的女兒瑪麗一起來到巴黎，他 1730 年在 Rue Montorgueil 上開的甜點店 Stohrer, la plus ancienne pâtisserie de Paris 至今屹立不搖，是巴黎現存最古老的甜點店。而他的拿手甜點巴巴，也風靡了全法國、成為經典中的經典。
根據我過往的經驗，法國人通常都相當喜愛巴巴，但我不但對酒精過敏、也不喜歡浸得濕軟的麵糰。還記得七年前當剛剛到巴黎沒多久，和朋友一起去一家二星餐廳午餐，餐後甜點上了一個浸滿蘭姆酒的巴巴、還附上額外的蘭姆酒依個人喜好添加。幾乎不喝酒的我，被這個簡直是是麵包型的酒瓶嚇到，從此對巴巴敬謝不敏。沒想到身在法國多年，我近來發現自己竟然已經可以欣賞蘭姆酒的香氣而不再感到噁心。最近因為經常路過巴黎銅鑼燒專賣店 Pâtisserie TOMO，每次看到他們的日本威士忌巴巴都非常心動，終於在本週下定決心品嚐了一下。
先說結論，因為我幾乎不喝酒、也不喜歡酒精的味道，所以品嚐過的巴巴非常少，這大概是目前為止「唯一一款」我能夠欣賞的、加了酒精的巴巴。銅鑼燒與布里歐許麵糰相較，口感更加厚實有彈性，而 TOMO 並未將整個銅鑼燒浸在酒糖液中直至軟爛，所以仍舊能夠享受原本的口感；以 Nikka 威士忌和沖繩黑糖調製的糖漿，有麥芽的醇香、威士忌輕微的冷冽，但絲毫沒有酒精的刺鼻。單純美好的香草香緹鮮奶油，以濃醇補足了口味的深度。雖然我只吃了幾口，就能感覺到臉頰微微發熱，但這是一款我非常喜愛、也會希望下次再來品嚐的甜點。
之前我在其他文章中介紹過 Pâtisserie TOMO，店內不僅有傳統的日式銅鑼燒、也有許多將法式經典甜點以銅鑼燒重新演繹的作品，這個威士忌巴巴銅鑼燒便是其中的代表作。點開照片，我另外附上 MORI Yoshida、des Gateaux et du Pain、Yann Couvreur Pâtisserie 的巴巴作品，讓大家一起欣賞經典的再創作。
🔖 延伸閱讀：
「重新詮釋」－ 法式甜點經典重生、歷久彌新的秘訣：https://tinyurl.com/y5xenfqz
從「亞洲甜點在巴黎」思考何謂台灣味：https://tinyurl.com/y36tprn8
我的巴黎甜點店電子導覽：https://tinyurl.com/yxoee6ey
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Among all French pastries, baba has been a real challenge for me.
This classic is composed with a brioche made with raisins as well as fresh grapes. After it’s baked, It then has to be soaked in syrup made with hard liquor, rum usually, sometimes with Malaga wine, Porto wine, or Madeira wine, etc. Very often, it is decorated with Chantilly cream.
The pastry is attributed Stanisław I Leszczyński, the exiled king of Poland. Nicolas Stohrer, one of his pâtissiers from Alsace had the idea of soaking a dried brioche (or kouglof) in Malaga wine with saffron and added dried and fresh raisins with pastry cream. Legend says that during the time it was served, Stanisław was in love with the stories in A Thousand and One Nights and thus named the pastry as “Ali Baba”.
When Marie Leszczyńska married Louis XV in 1725, Nicolas Stohrer followed her to Versailles as her pâtissier, and then opened his own pastry shop “Stohrer” in 1730 on Rue Montorgueil in the 1st arrondissement in Paris. The shop remains today and is now the oldest pastry shop in Paris. His baba also has become one of the great classics of French pastries.
According to my own experience, French people seem to love baba. But I’m not a big fan of it since I’m allergic to alcohol and I don’t really get the idea of a soggy bread. I still remember my first time tasting a baba. It was 7 years ago when I just arrived Paris. I had lunch with friends in a Michelin two-starred restaurant and the dessert was a huge baba soaked thoroughly in rum syrup and with additional rum to taste. To me it was almost like a bread-shaped bottle of wine and I was almost traumatised. As I can’t drink, I don’t really like the smell of alcohol either. But after several years of living in Paris, I recently found out that I seem to be able to appreciate the smell of rum and some alcohols finally. So I was thinking that maybe I could give it a try when I found the Dorayaki Baba au Whisky at Pâtisserie TOMO.
Well, as I haven’t really tasted a lot of babas, I can’t say this is the best, but it is surely the top 1 among all what I’ve tasted. The dorayaki pancakes are well perfumed by the Japanese whisky Nikkai. Soft, moist but and not-at-all soggy. The texture of dorayaki is well-kept which is a big plus compared with the brioches that have almost lost its characteristic when saturated with alcoholic syrup. The Nikkai whisky has a really rounded and mellow smell of malt and the Chantilly cream adds depth to the tinge of alcohol. Though I could already feel that my cheeks started to get flushed after several small bites, it’s still a real delight that I’d like to taste again.
I have talked about Pâtisserie TOMO in my another article. It is a great pastry shop where you could find traditional Japanese delights as well as excellent examples of French classics revisited. The Dorayaki Baba au Whisky is one of them. Click to check the photos and you’ll find detailed description of those interesting baba revisits, including the one from MORI YOHIDA, Des Gâteaux et du Pain, and Yann Couvreur Pâtisserie, some of the best in the city.
🔖 Read more on related topics:
Revisiting classics, the “fountain-of-youth” secret of French pastries: https://tinyurl.com/y5xenfqz
How do you define the taste of Taiwan? My take on Asian pastries in Paris: https://tinyurl.com/y36tprn8
My Paris pastry shop guide: https://tinyurl.com/yxoee6ey
#yingspastryguide #baba #babaaurhum #dorayaki
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