Ca
France

VALENTIN NERAUDEAU started very early on in the kitchen with his grandma Louise, who passed on the family recipe secrets on to him. He started out his career at the age of 14. When he was 19, he opened his first restaurant, called the Valentin, in Toulouse. By the age of 23, he had three. The young chef was an apprentice with Michel Guérard, the Pourcel brothers, Bernard Bach and Philippe Legendre. A twotime finalist for the French dessert championships (2009 and 2011), he doesn’t draw a line between pastry-making and cuisine, and is as interested in textures as he is in the visual. Today, Valentin Naraudeau shares his responsibilities as the head of the kitchens at the Bermuda Onion with his activity in Toulouse.

What role does cream play in your patisserie?
Valentin Neraudeau :

It’s the basis for everything, as are eggs. It is used a great deal.

What preparations do you make with cream?
Valentin Neraudeau :

In ganaches, boiled whipping cream brings fluidity, an elasticity that gives the sensation of creaminess; in a crémeux, it’s a base for custard. I mix it half-and-half with milk, then add chocolate or a fruit puree. This is my basic recipe for ice creams and mousses. Heavy cream is for specific espumas. Work it in a mixing bowl with a fruit puree, a syrup or citrus juice at a proportion of 1/3rd cream, 2/3rds flavouring. I like the acidity that it brings and that isn’t found in whipping cream. I add very little sugar and shape it in a siphon, which really adds value to the espuma, and it keeps very well chilled for up to 48 hours. In my banoffe (a British pastry based on fresh bananas, caramel with salted butter deglazed with cream, mascarpone and amaretto cream mousse, all placed on a sablé base), the cream, together with a quenelle of mascarpone (added over the course of the process) and whipped with a whisk. It’s poured over the top generously. I love the exaggerated style! This way, I obtain a creamy dessert that has flavour, style and firmness. It’s much nicer than a sheet of gelatine! It’s visual. Chantilly, which is rich and firm, is reserved for sweets. I add little sugar, sometimes fructose or honey, in a modest manner because I’m an indulgent type but take care of myself. I also add a little cream to my lemon tart. Without it, the tart wouldn’t be as soft, it would be firmer.

I love the exaggerated style! This way, I obtain a creamy dessert that has flavour !
What are its usages?
Valentin Neraudeau :

Cream provides texture. For example, when assembling desserts, you stack a biscuit, a creamy element, a mousse. It can be used at this time as different forms, with different levels of expansion. These are the codes that I observe so that the cake doesn’t fall apart when it’s being eaten. Honestly, I can’t imagine a dessert without cream.

Which of your creations best celebrates cream?
Valentin Neraudeau :

Desserts, with a great deal of chocolate whipping cream. The confection is a hazelnut dacquoise, a milk chocolate ganache with a boiled cream base, a chocolate caramel cream with a creambased custard, a milk mousse (firm, whipped cream), a custard with a strong vanilla flavour together with Chantilly for a clean texture, lightness, and creaminess, and a whipping cream chocolate glaze. The progression is from the heaviest to the lightest material.

Would you say that you love cream, love it passionately or love it madly?
Valentin Neraudeau :

Madly!

What is your signature cake with cream?
Valentin Neraudeau :

The banoffee. A desert that’s been forgotten. It was created in 1974 in the outskirts of London, and I reinterpret it in my own way. I love the generosity and the cream.

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BERMUDA ONION

Paris 15e