Bonbons in Brittany
Beverly Stephen reports.
| More 'Front Burner' articles in this issue |
| Birthday bash |
| Brain food |
| The insider's Paris |
| Nonna knows best |
| Gemütlich and gourmet |
Belle Isle en Mer, France—My French friends obsess over the best. Is the best croissant in Paris to be found at La Petite Marquise or Ladurée? He insists on the former, she the latter. Who makes the best macaroon? Pierre Hermé, hands down, says she; he's loyal to Ladurée. So when visiting them at their country house on this idyllic island off the coast of Brittany—a little over three hours from Paris on the often sold-out, faster-than-a-speeding-bullet TGV train (best booked well in advance through Rail Europe) plus a 45 minute ferry ride—I was prepared for heated discussions about the best fishmonger and the best crêperie, but I was blindsided by the chocolate.
Yes, this is the best, they both concurred, passing a dish of addictive chocolate "coffee beans" from La Pallantine.
We went to investigate the diminutive chocolate shop in the picturesque village of Le Palais. The owner, Patrick Thomas, worked for 10 years at Jadis et Gourmande, one of the best (of course) chocolatiers in Paris, and returned here to his birthplace with his Swedish wife and business partner, Sofia Rydemalm, after the death of his father in 2001. When they set up shop, they named it La Palantine after his father's fishing boat. They are attracted by the savage beauty of the landscape Monet came to paint in pre-TGV days and the pastoral lifestyle. They are supported by affluent second home owners and quality obsessed locals, augmented by hordes of summer visitors who cause the population to balloon from 5,000 to 50,000.
A true artisanal chocolatier, Thomas makes all his confections by hand, using the best quality chocolate. Most of his couverture is Americao, a 72 percent blend made with chocolate from Venezuela, São Tomé, and the Ivory Coast. He also works with crus from Ecuador, Madagascar, and Mexico. One of his best sellers is a 70 percent Cru São Tomé bar with fleur de sel. But bonbons with a variety of fillings, such as almond and orange, are also popular. No outlandish avant-garde flavors here. "We don't make chocolates with curry or pepper because we don't find it good," Rydemalm declares emphatically. And never will you find even a hint of anchovy. Leave that to the Spanish. Due to her enterprising efforts, a number of boutiques in Sweden sell their chocolates. But Thomas, who is in the process of expanding his capacity by five times, has his eye on other markets as well and is already talking to Bon Marché in Paris. No matter how huge the seasonal crowds it manages to accommodate, Belle Isle—the Impressionists' indestructible "Beautiful Isle"—may no longer be big enough to contain a lone chocolate artisan's creative output.
