Cream through time

It is believed that cream originating from milk has existed since the early days of animal husbandry in the Palaeolithic Era. The Celts and the Vikings were fond of it. In the Middle Ages, cream appeared on dining tables next to vegetables and fresh cheeses. During this period, there was a greater tendency to combine ground almonds, hard-boiled eggs and breadcrumbs. Over the centuries, an appreciation of fat gave way to a taste for acids and there was interest later in its uses in the kitchen. In the 17th century, the famous royal chef Vatel developed Louis XIV’s appreciation for Chantilly cream, a taste that has been passed on to his descendants that live today. For members of the court as well as the populace, cream became an indulgence. In the following century, people ate cream in a frozen form. Le Procope is celebrated for its “Chantilly ice cream.” The images from Épinal of artisanal skimming processes at the dairy were made with industrialisation. Gone were the hours whiled away waiting for the cream to rise to the top of the milk so that it could be collected with a sieve. The 19th century saw the arrival of the centrifugal milk-cream separator, which used conical disks, by the Swedish inventor Gustaf de Laval.

Today, the modern centrifuge leaves less than 0.5g of fat per kilo of skimmed milk. Cream took its place among a bourgeoning middle-class culinary tradition, which was heavy on sauces, stuffing and desserts. The usage of cream became widespread in side dishes and in meat and poultry stuffing. But it was really the father of French cuisine, Antonin Carême, who established its use in cooking and pastry-making. He perfected decorative confectionary, sweets and charlottes that overflowed with flattering cream. His new sauces and famous potato recipes also made use of cream. In the most recent century, regional cuisines appropriated the ingredient to produce their own local specialties. Today, the usage of cream is based on a tendency to lighten recipes while maintaining a fullbodied, clean sense of indulgence.

In 11th century France, cream became an ingredient in one of the oldest pastry recipes: the flan, described then as a “cream tart”. Later, in the 15th century, when being a pastry chef became recognised as a profession, “darioles” and “dauphins”, cream-based preparations, were added to their numerous specialities. This period was characterised by a strong preference for dairy products in France, but it was not until the 18th century that pastry-making achieved a real turning point. This is when pastry chefs started developing their creativity, inventing cakes with poetic names like “Puits d’Amour” (Well of Love) or “Jalousie” (Jealousy) as they fell head over heels in love with whipped cream, the star ingredient of the century. Antonin Carême made his mark on the 19th century with his technical skill and monumental cakes. The next big names were Jules Gouffé and Auguste Escoffier, before Gaston Le Nôtre became renowned in the mid-20th century for using cream in mousse, thus creating the modern dessert we know and love. Pastry chefs have pushed the boundaries of their creativity ever since, working to infuse the great classics of French pastry with a more modern spirit without forgetting the basics. A fantastic example is the Saint-Honoré cake that David Landriot made at the Mandarin Oriental in Paris.