Nicolas Dutertre
Parsnip & Alunga™
Petits Gâteaux
Nicolas perfected his skills with the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France at the École Nationale Supérieure de la Pâtisserie Française in France. He also worked as sous pastry chef at 5 star palace Hôtel Plaza Athénée, with world pastry chef champion, Christophe Michalak for 5 years before becoming pastry chef at Montreal’s Point G.
Nicolas Dutertre is now taking on a new pastry challenge as Cacao Barry chef at the Chocolate Academy™ training center Montreal.
He loves walking in the forest looking for wild mushrooms such as ceps, boletus and morels in Rambouillet. When he was young, he was known for picking all the mushrooms of the village when he left with his walking stick.
Parsnip & Alunga™ Petit Gâteau
Creative Path
"I discovered parsnip when I arrived in North America, a root vegetable – often served in a puree or roasted. It is now making a comeback on the menus of Montreal’s great restaurants."
Parsnip
Parsnip can be confied to add texture or cooked in caramel for a more crispy texture. It can also be finely cut to make chips and used as decor or served as an aperitif. Indeed, the slightly sweet and mild taste of this vegetable is also what appealed to Nicolas. “Parsnip is very accessible for pastry chefs; the workability of the product makes it ideal for creating a variety of plated desserts”.
Flavour
To bring balance to his recipe, Nicolas included blackcurrant from Île d’Orléans to add freshness and acidity without adding sugar, an important element that reflects the trend of desserts that are less sweet.
“To enhance the taste of parsnip, I cooked it in milk and because the taste of parsnip is mild I kept that same infusion milk to make the cremeux. I also chose the Alunga™ 41% cacao milk chocolate couverture because I think it’s the one that paired best with the parsnip’s flavours without overpowering its subtle aromatic notes. Alunga™ also has acidic notes that offer a structure on which the delicate flavours of the parsnip rest.”