The Best Pavlova in Paris

 

Where to go for a Pavlova?

Meet Mme. Marie Stoclet Bardon, owner (along with M. Benoit Bardon) of 4 patisserie shops in Paris, La Meringaie.

Atelier visit

On Monday Solli and I visited the l’Atelier of La Meringaie on 21 rue Lévis in the 17th, to see how their special version of the Pavlova dessert is made.

Meringue history

But first some meringue history is essential. 

Where was PaVlova created?

Legend has the meringue created in 1720, in Mehringhen, a small town in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, by a certain Swiss Chef Casparini.  

Did Marie-Antoinette make Pavlovas?

Marie-Antoinette shared her taste for the marriage of Chantilly cream and meringue, when she hand-whipped the cream herself for her vacherins, while wearing her farm maid costume.

Top French chef, Antonin Carême (1754-1838) climbs the dessert steps to glory, inspired by architecture, to create many more varied meringue shapes. 

The Pavlova dessert came about in the 1920s, when Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, (shown here with her pet swan, Jack) on her solo world tour visited both Australia and New Zealand. Whether it was the creation of a kiwi chef or an Aussie is up for lengthy contemplation.

Her bouffant tutu skirt, along with her ethereal, light-as-a-feather ballet dancing in The Dying Swan, (created for her by choreographer Michel Fokine), inspired chefs to new heights of meringue. 

Luckily we have a record of Pavlova performing her dying swan, very different from Le Lac des cygnes or Swan Lake as we know it today.

But I digress as usual…first we viewed resting meringues in special temperature-controlled rooms. 

Meringues are delicate creatures with a short life span if left out in normal temperatures.

We both stood over the mixing machine, fixated, as egg whites and sugar were spun into delectably meringue.

Lemon meringue pie was always traditionally my birthday cake as a child and still is, so I have a deep attachment.

Crunchy, fluffy meringues will always be my favorite.

If you have egg 🥚 whites you will have macarons as La Meringaie certainly does, the other beloved meringue confection.

The Pavlova is all about layering. First a crunchy base of meringue. Then whipped cream with minimal sucré, usually first infused with flavors of lime zest, vanilla or other fruits. Then the chosen fruits layered on top.

Owner Marie Bardon changes Pavlova flavors from week to week, giving them 18th-century French names like Zéli or Sidonie or Honorine. 

The fruit toppings are based on whatever is seasonal in the marché and grown in France. 

We tasted a Pavlova with a chocolate ganache base plus  cream. Marie spent time as head of promotion at La Maison du Chocolat.

My fascination with both meringue and Anna Pavlova was just waiting in the wings…

To come dancing 🩰 out in watercolor on paper.

Don’t miss out on tasting a Pavlova at La Meringaie in Paris.