L'Abricotage

We have Antonin Careme to thank for exquisite French pastry. Of a recent study comparing American pastries with. ...French pastry. I discovered in my researches that there is a serious lack of gloss, glitz or l'abricotage on the home front.L'abricotage is the generous apparently of apricot jam syrup....that the Parisien patisseries fling about with abandon. Doesn't this New York tart need lashings of apricot syrup? A dusting of powdered sugar can do the trick in a pinch. Another Gerard Mulot beauty combines powdered sugar AND l'abricotage.
Elaborate Parisien desserts is no accident.

When this in your occupational tradition - check out Cooking For Kings,The Life of the First Celebrity Chef, Antonin Careme (it should say pastry chef).

And this. Merci M. Careme.

Why you'll find divine fantasies in every Paris pastry vitrine.
Bonne Mercredi!

Bright, Shiny Things...

While Paris has grey skies and grey Baron Haussmann buildings. People wearing neutral-colored clothing. Paris also has glitz - really, I mean shine and shiny things
 I'm not talking about high glossy tartes - the L'abricotage. But tons and tons of silvery, reflective tableware that make French tabletops so delightful. Here, the window of L'Argenterie at 19, rue de Turenne, 75004, le Marais

 Alexi Worth commented in the NYTimes on, Jonathan Miller's book, ON REFLECTION:
Reflective surfaces, from puddles to pewter to mirrored glass, have always been catnip to artists. What makes these images so especially puzzling and delicious?

I can't keep away from shiny things. V. says I have Shiny object syndrome (SOS). I am always chasing one bright, shiny thing after another.

The Vaissellerie shop in Paris has lots of silver bargains.
I found a terrific silver-plated chocolatiere for a song 🎵 

Teapots are a delight and an ongoing challenge.I've painted this silvery teapot at the Petrossian Boutique over and over.

Last but not least a silver water flask for the watercolor artist. Surely something you can not do without. For more silver, visit the Musée de l'Argenterie 109-113,avenue Daumesnil. From the French book of silver marks, Poincons d'Or et de Platine :
"Silverware will always be the most beautiful ornament of the table" And they're a real challenge to paint.

Paris L'Abricotage

Making Abricotage, watercolor. 9" x 11"

A reader said...your eye for detail is something special! I would hate to have to try to sneak past you.

One thing I noticed in Paris - an obsession with GLOSS, sheen, shine, and sparkle.

Called "abricotage" or abricoter when you glaze a tarte with a syrup made of apricot confiture/jam. A "before and after" shot from cuisine-facile.com. Plus visual instructions on making your own abricotage glace. It's not rocket science. I made it.

Do Paris' grey skies make Parisians long for sparkle?
Do Parisians need cheering up? Is glossiness the answer?

Shine and gloss can be found even at your average Paris cafe.

In New York, if you’re looking for gloss, go to a nail salon.

If you see your reflection in the top of a French tarte,
a pastry chef has achieved the Nirvana of pastry.
I attended the Lyon World Pastry Cup in '95. Those pastry chefs welded 10" wide bristle brushes of abricotage like it was the World Series. I was taking pictures but I missed that shot. 12 top chefs sat at a long table in full view of the audience, judging and tasting the various team's desserts. Was "gloss" a factor in judging on a scale of 1 - 10?
Gloss/abricotage is on Pierre Herme's pastry palette.

BONJOUR PARIS L'ABRICOTAGE!