When I told a lot of the people in my life I was going to culinary school, their first reaction was “Oh that’s awesome! Are you going to be like a French chef?”
Uhh….not so much. While any cooking school teaches techniques originated by the French, NGI rejects most of the mainstays of French haute cuisine, like butter, cream, copious animal products and refined sugar. That being said, we all know I still have a serious love for sugar and pretty desserts, so when I read a YumSugar article online last night listing various food documentaries, the film Kings of Pastry jumped out at me. Bonus: it was available on Netflix instant view!
Kings of Pastry follows three French chefs, one living in Chicago and two living in France, as they prepare to compete for the prestigious Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (best craftsman in France) pastry competition. The M.O.F. is bestowed upon only a handful of pastry geniuses, and contenders prepare for the competition for years. It’s like the Olympics of sugar- and I’m not exaggerating. Can you even imagine how much practice it takes to blog a sculpture like this out of sugar?!
What I really loved about the movie was that it took you through everything, from the preliminary preparations to the contest itself to the showcase to the winner announcements to the aftermath. You saw how hard each chef worked to perfect his presentation, and when someone’s sculpture would break, you were kind of heartbroken with them. It seemed like there was a ton of camaraderie among the chefs, too; multiple M.O.Fs can be awarded at each contest, so there wasn’t a sense of competition against anyone but oneself. The only caveat was that I wanted a some cream puffs to eat while I watched. There’s a lot of food porn in this!
While watching, I thought about the difference between French and American food culture. One of my favorite quotes of the film was when one of the chefs said “The idea in France is to eat the best possible on a daily basis but just in small quantities, so that your brain is happy every day. You don’t starve yourself and then you eat like a pig at the all-you-can-eat on Saturday night. That doesn’t exist. They don’t exist, the ‘all-you-can-eat’ in France.” Such a nice concept about your brain being happy every day, right? We’ve all heard about the “French paradox” of people eating rich foods and staying thin, but I think this movie was a great example of that. These chefs would spend hours preparing teensy little pastries, then even while just sampling their creation would sit down to eat half of one. There’s no sense of restriction, which I know from personal experience is so prevalent here and ultimately does, at least in my own opinion, lead to overeating. Food is art to them, whether it’s in the form of a salad for lunch or a massive sugar sculpture for the most prestigious pastry competition in the world.
What do you think of the “French paradox?” Do you think restriction leads to overeating? And what’s the most intense competition you’ve ever been in?
I think French people stay slim despite eating rich foods is because they savor, not gorge! When you don’t feel restricted, you also don’t feel the need to finish every last bite. I really think portion control is key for weight loss/maintenance and by using their appetite as a guidelines, the French seem to have it nailed!
I agree with them; restriction leads to overeating. I’m one to speak, because it happens to me moreo ften than not! I am slowly starting to move in the direction of the french mindset because I have noticed the difference; I just have to keep up with it.
I agree with this theory as well. In my own life, I know when I come to the end of the meal I need something sweet, just a morsel to keep me satisfied. I nearly always have some form of dark chocolate in my possession and this is enough to keep me from going crazy. I always love that you finish the day with some chocolate as well. Daily indulgences, in small amounts, are definitely a must! Thanks for sharing the film; it looks very entertaining from a food porn point of view. Haha!
I definitel think that restriction leads to overeating-I also think that because our country has become so “supersized” a french portion looks like a crumb to us. I always try to think quality over quantity
I think it depends on the person. I was able to restrict my eating for 1.5 years without ever having an episode of binging. But I think in a person with less perfectionist tendencies, then yes, restriction can definitely lead to overeating since the body is literally starving for food!
I really admire the French way of eating. It’s such a healthy approach to food - not only physically but also mentally. Eating is so much more enjoyable when there are no foods that are “off limits”!
That’s an interesting question. I think it depends on how you define restriction, and also on the eaters perception of satiation.
Some people (like me) need to physically feel full to feel satisfied so even if I allowed myself all the things I want, the quantities I crave would be too much. However, some people need to have certain flavors or textures or “types” of food at each meal, so while a large salad might be filling, some people just don’t feel satiated despite physically feeling full.
I would much rather eat a few bites of quality than all you can eat of lesser quality. I also believe that if you really want a cookie or a dessert, to just have it. Don’t try to eat a rice cake with peanut butter, then a piece of fruit, then a handful of raisins..in the end, you still want the cookie and just ended up eating more and were never really satisfied anyway than had you just gone with the cookie to begin with
What a great point! I completely agree. Sadly, American’s have the quantity vs quality approach to food instead of the French quality vs quantity. Not to say that every american is like this, but as a whole, our culture approaches food as the more the merrier. While I say, savor a small amount of the real thing. Which of course means not restricting yourself. I would much much rather eat a few bites of a rich, chocolate fudge cake than eat a bag of 100 calorie chocolate crisps. I think a large part of the reason that we over eat is due to the fact that when we eat potato chips, fluffy white bread burgers, etc. we don’t feel satisfied and thus eat way more than we need. Maybe this depends on the circumstance too. Nonetheless, this is a great point and I’ll definitely have to check out this film.
Glad you watched this movie, Gabriela! I saw it and loved it. It totally captured my interest - and I’m no chef, that’s for sure!
uhhh I think I asked you that question.
[...] week I watched Kings of Pastry, which I loved, and since then I’ve seen a few more. Here’s what I thought of [...]
my recent trip to France was a good time to reflect on this paradox of French cuisine. I really did eat everything that I wanted for 8 days and didn’t become obese, but I did notice how I didn’t feel too hot all of the time. We had breakfast (a croissant and a baguette with butter and jam) really early, and then we wouldn’t have our 3 course lunch (with plenty of wine) until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. while I got enough calories, they weren’t the right kind for spending all day walking around the city. by noon, I was always kind of dizzy, had a headache, and not too pleasant to be around. my teacher would buy us croissants as a snack, which weren’t exactly the fuel that we needed. I don’t need to see (or eat) another pain au chocolat, croissant, or baguette for a very long time…or at least until I return to France.