00:00Well, Christmas is fast approaching and here in France, that means in the spotlight is
00:04the traditional Yule Log or Bûche de Noël.
00:08This week, the magazine Fou de Patisserie held its annual award ceremony, including
00:12prizes for the sweet creation of the year and the Palace Log, which goes to a pastry
00:17chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant for their Bûche de Noël.
00:21This year, it was awarded to Jordan Talbot, who's the head pastry chef under Jérôme
00:26Bontel at La Réserve Paris.
00:28He joins me on set now.
00:30Congratulations to you.
00:32Tell us about your creation, which is called L'Etoile Gabrielle.
00:36Our Bûche de Noël is composed of crispy cacao and fleur de sel, chocolate cookie and
00:43biquette crème, chocolate mousse Grand Cru.
00:48On the top, it is a chocolate bar with caramel fleur de sel.
00:53Sounds delicious.
00:54Also with you in the studio is Eugénie Epon, who's the trophy director at Fou de Patisserie.
01:00Tell us about the awards ceremony, then.
01:03How do you decide?
01:05Just to explain, we decided to create this award four years ago because we, as Bédiard
01:11Fou de Patisserie, we are meeting a lot of chefs all over the year from all over France
01:18and we see the creativity of the chefs.
01:22So we wanted to shine the light on creativity and have different categories and reward this
01:31creativity and these chefs who are doing an amazing job.
01:34All right.
01:35Well, that sounds like my dream job, to be able to taste all of these wonderful, sweet
01:40treats.
01:41But how exactly do you vote?
01:43I imagine it's a little bit more complicated than just tasting.
01:46Exactly.
01:47But we are not voting.
01:48The redaction, the Fou de Patisserie redaction team is nominating four chefs per category.
01:56We have different categories, ice cream, chocolate, pastry creation, etc.
02:03And we are gathering a jury that we are creating and composed of star chefs and media experts.
02:14They have a registration where they are voting.
02:19It's an anonymous vote and the tasting, sorry, the tasting is anonymous, not the vote.
02:25But this is a secret ballot supervised by a bailiff.
02:30And the winners are revealed at the ceremony.
02:33All right.
02:34And Jordan, let's go back to you.
02:35I want to ask, what exactly does this award mean for you?
02:39It is a really great recognition for me and my team at the hotel.
02:46It is fabulous.
02:49And where did you get the idea for the Etoile Gabriel?
02:52L'Etoile Gabriel, it is a tribute for the optician for the Suisse Michelin star at Le
03:02Gabriel, the restaurant Suisse Michelin star for Jérôme Bontel at La Réserve Paris.
03:08And so how do you get imagination every year?
03:11How do you keep coming up with new things?
03:15It is my first ever bush.
03:18My first aspiration for the moment, it is the hotel.
03:24And usually you have 10 Yule log recipes in your magazine.
03:29Does this mean that people are making their own at home more and more?
03:32I mean, it sounds awfully complicated.
03:34It is complicated, but it's not that complicated.
03:39And that's why we want to give access to passionate and to people who want to make good bakeries
03:45and pastries at home.
03:48So yes, in the magazine, every two months, we have a lot of recipes.
03:52And this last issue, we have a different recipe of Yule log, sorry.
04:01And we have different level.
04:03So you have because everybody is not at the same level, of course.
04:08So we have the recipe of Jordan in the magazine and he has the extreme generosity to give
04:16us the recipe and you have different levels.
04:18So it's really accessible for everybody.
04:23And just on that, I'd like to see a little bit more of what you've created.
04:27If you can just turn that towards the camera.
04:31We see there on the top, the decoration and inside, you said it's got biscuits and other
04:37different layers.
04:38This is a chocolate tablet on the side, on the top.
04:43And this is a biscuit with mousse and praline and caramel.
04:50It's a mix of chocolate and buckwheat.
04:53So it's amazing.
04:56It's beautiful, of course.
04:59It's like a jewel.
05:00This is amazing to see what the chef can create.
05:05And obviously, you want to put it on your table for Christmas.
05:08Absolutely.
05:09It's like a decoration in itself.
05:11Jordan, I believe that you read Fou De Patisserie as you were starting out in the industry.
05:17Was there something in particular that helped you as you were making your way?
05:22Yes, I'm inspired for looking the magazine and the parkour for the chef.
05:31I make the recipes in the magazine for my experience.
05:36All right.
05:38And the holiday season is obviously a very busy time of year for restaurants and hotels.
05:43How do you try to make the Christmas period special for your customers?
05:49Hmm.
05:50You, I think you, Jérôme Bantel, the cooking chef who won the three stars this year.
05:59It's an amazing experience to go to La Réserve because you see what Jordan is able to create.
06:07And Jérôme is a magician.
06:09So this is typical, the kind of place you can have an amazing experience around food,
06:16but also because the place is amazing.
06:18And this is like a little cocoon, you know, and this is very great food and atmosphere.
06:28And this is a dream.
06:29All right.
06:30Well, thank you very much, Jordan Talbot.
06:33And congratulations again for L'Etoile Gabrielle.
06:36And thank you, Eugenie Pond, for coming in.
06:38And for our viewers, they can get all those recipes and details in the magazine Fou De
06:43Patisserie.
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