[Paris pastry shop / 巴黎甜點店] Maison Plume • Pâtisserie (For English, please click "see more")
還記得幾個禮拜以前我們討論過「#為什麼法式甜點需要鑑賞」嗎？那時候我曾經提到希望「#甜或不甜」不會再是評判一個甜點是否好吃的主要標準，畢竟法式甜點能夠品味的部分太多，從作品本身的製作細節、風味搭配，到主廚理念、創意、過往創作，甚至整個淵遠流長的歷史發展，都可以是欣賞的重點。不過，那之後我仍然收到不少回應，希望我能分享「#最不甜」的甜點...正好我前陣子去了一家以「無添加糖、無麩質、有機」為號召的甜點店，可以和大家介紹一下。
「有機」、「無麩質」等都是近幾年巴黎飲食界最流行的關鍵詞，不過甜點店要做到「無添加糖」還是比較前衛，Maison Plume 是其中一家。所謂「無添加糖」（sans sucre ajouté）意思是指「不在食材原有的甜味額外加入人工製糖」，所以利用食材本身的甜味、本來就有糖分的水果、果汁等等都是可以接受的。有些號稱「無糖」的店家會使用蜂蜜或是龍舌蘭糖漿等來代替砂糖，但位於巴黎的瑪黑區 Maison Plume 卻在女主廚 Tara Pidoux 的堅持下一概不使用。
這家以淡紫色為主要視覺的甜點店風格雅致，以「plume」（羽毛）為名，更暗示了作品輕盈無負擔的特色。店中所有的甜點從慕斯蛋糕、塔、泡芙、沙布列餅乾等，都使用橢圓形的模具，以符合「羽毛」的整體形狀。當天我和朋友們總共選了三樣甜點：開心果泡芙（Chou Pistache）、香草核桃塔（Plume Vanille-Pécan）、西洋梨杏仁塔（Plume Poire-Amandine），外觀呈現非常細緻美麗，也吃得出選材的用心。最妙的是我的德國朋友在吃了幾口之後，竟然說出所有台灣人都會說的一句話：「嗯，好吃！而且不會太甜！」不過我是覺得有加入西洋梨的那一款因為有水果天然的芳香和甜度，整體比較平衡，我自己點的那一個香草核桃塔因為沒有糖，所以底下的沙布列不夠濕潤、較為乾燥鬆碎，堅果的香氣如果能有多一點糖襯托，會更為明顯。
「減糖」議題在法國一直有不少討論，但我個人認為，如果是品嚐甜點，有糖是應該的。甜味是愉悅感非常重要的來源、人類為什麼發展出吃甜點的文化正是奠基於此。適宜的甜度能夠更好地發揮許多食材的特色，風味會比完全不加糖來得更為豐富，更不用提許多甜點元素如蛋白霜等，沒有足夠的糖量根本無法成功製作。只不過把握甜度是專業，還需要考慮到各地的消費者口味、主廚本人的主觀意見等，也是一門藝術。不過許多人因為健康的需求，確實需要控制糖量攝取，完全不加糖的甜點應該造福了不少顧客。
接下來就請大家點開照片欣賞；追求「不甜」的台灣消費者們，也別忘了把這家店記起來喔！
🔖 延伸閱讀：
為什麼法式甜點需要鑑賞：https://tinyurl.com/y54dacbu
手把手教你如何鑑賞檸檬塔：https://tinyurl.com/y3ht8tt2
甜點作為藝術品：https://tinyurl.com/t62yj2r
*****
Still remember that we’ve discussed “why tasting is needed when having French pastries” several weeks ago? I mentioned that I hope one day “sweet or not” will no longer be a major criteria to judge whether a pastry / dessert is good not for certain people since there’re so many parameters and details to appreciate, such as the visual presentation, match of flavours, the philosophy and creativeness of the chefs, as well as the long history of the development of French pastries as a whole. But I still got lots of feedbacks asking me to recommend where to find the “least sweet” pastries and desserts in Paris. I happened to visit a pastry shop making organic pastries free of sugar and gluten a while ago, so here you are!
“Bio” (organic), “sans gluten” (gluten-free), etc. are some keywords that you can’t miss when you talk about the food scene in Paris in recent years. But it is still quite edgy for a pastry shop to offer pastries free of sugar. Maison Plume is one of the very few of them. “Sugar free” actually means “no sugar added”. Using the natural sweetness of the ingredients, fruits, and juices are a common strategy. Some people might use honey or agave syrup as an alternative sweetener, but at Maison Plume, the female chef Tara Pidoux takes none of them.
Named after “plume” (“feather” in French), Tara makes pastries that are as light as feather. Almost everything is in feather shape, including mouse cakes, tarts, choux pastry, and sablé biscuits, etc. The day when I visited, my friends and I picked the Chou Pistache, Plume Vanille-Pécan, and Plume Poire-Amandine. All of them are very delicate in their presentations and are made with quality ingredients that you could really taste. One interesting thing is, after the first several bites, my German friends announced, “Hmmm, they’re really delicious! Not so sweet!”, just as what we hear all the time in Taiwan. But for me, I actually preferred the Poire-Amandine that is sweet enough, thanks to the pears, to add some depth and layers to the overall taste. The sablé base of the “Plume Vanille-Pécan” that I had was crumbly but a bit dry. The nutty flavour of the pastry could actually be more pronounced if there was a little more sweetness.
Sugar reduction has been a topic of debate, even in France. But I personally think sugar is necessary since we’re talking about desserts and pastries. Sweetness is strongly linked to pleasure, which lays the foundation of the development of pastries and desserts. Proper sweetness could actually bring out the best of many ingredients that might taste plain when sugar is absent, not to mention the fact that sugar is an essential factor to succeed many pastry components, such as meringue. Nevertheless, sugar level control is an art that the taste of customers and opinions and beliefs of pâtissiers have to be taken into consideration as well. Given the rising health concern, the emergence of no sugar pastries and desserts is indeed a wonderful news for many.
Click on the photos and get to know more about the shop and the pastries. Don’t forget to note it down if you’re also opt for low- or no-sugar pastries!
🔖 You might also be interested:
Why "tasting" is needed when we enjoy French pastries: https://tinyurl.com/y54dacbu
How to taste a lemon tart: https://tinyurl.com/y3ht8tt2
Pastries and desserts as artworks: https://tinyurl.com/t62yj2r
#yingspastryguide #paris #maisonplumepatisserie #yingc
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