BACHOUR IN HIS PUREST FORM
Antonio Bachour is indisputably one of the most universal pastry chefs today. How has this chef of Puerto Rican origin managed to earn respect and professional admiration worldwide? Well, it is thanks to his cheerful, showy, attractive, and varied pastry which is accessible and understandable, and with no unnecessary complications. And it is that very pastry which is the content of Bachour Buffets, a book that perfectly captures the Bachour style, the one that the chef puts into practice every day in his workshop and in his shops, and the one that he teaches in his courses around the world. There are a total of 74 new and unpublished creations, organized into five themed buffets with their corresponding recipes, processes, technical notes, step-by-step photographs, and the beautiful images captured by Corina Landa.
Bachour Buffets is a large-format book, an entire 512-page treatise on current pastry, a book at the height of its author and the prestige of the person who has twice been chosen as the Best Pastry Chef in the World.
In the author's words, “Bachour Buffets, my second book with Grupo Vilbo and BooksForChefs, is the one in which I have finally been able to display all my pastry, the one I make daily and the one I teach in my courses all over the world. It's my pastry and it's 100% me... The idea is that with this book, anyone anywhere in the world can open a pastry business... This is not a book for the author to show off, but to work and see production ”.
As we said, this great book is organized in five themed buffets, in the style of the great assemblies that the chef performs at his events all over the world, although in this case with only one piece of each. Each buffet is a chapter and each chapter is dedicated to a buffet, that is, to a theme or a range of products that have something in common with each other. They are the following:
One: Croissant & Brioche
We knew about the enormous versatility of croissant dough, but not to what extent you can create a complete buffet of pastry pieces with a single type of dough. Flour, sugar, salt, milk, butter, and yeast make up a dough that in Bachour's hands becomes classic and bicolor croissants, filled with mascarpone, pecan, mango-passionfruit, and more, and in different finishes... Pain au Chocolat, classic and bicolor, with different fillings; Hazelnut pain aux raisins; Rocher croissant roll; apple braided croissant; Flan croissant… a total of 13 preparations with the same dough. The buffet is completed with another of those emblematic doughs, like the brioche, in three different formats, sugar brioche, mango Tropezienne tart, and chocolate brioche. And finally, a dough also from this family, which we know as the babá and which is so exceptional that it must be part of such a buffet.
Two: Entremets & Petits Gâteaux
It is one of Antonio Bachour's main dishes. In individual and family format, or what is the same, entremets and petits gâteaux, the chef demonstrates all his creativity and knowledge in the different pastry tasks, from biscuits, crunchy, creams, mousses, jellies, glazes, all the way up to decorations. Bachour proposes such interesting combinations as his Napolitan, a chocolate brownie with a vanilla cream and a strawberry panna cotta, all bathed in a crunchy strawberry glaze and topped with a whipped white chocolate ganache; a curious pistachio Paris-Brest; a chocolate, coffee, and vanilla Cappuccino in an entremet format; or a chestnut, vanilla, and mascarpone Mont Blanc. Up to a total of 13 unpublished creations with the chef’s unmistakable seal.
Three: Fruits & Vegetables
Antonio Bachour's pastry is not vegan or plant based, but it does rely on all kinds of vegetables to create unique cakes, pastries, and desserts. Fruits and vegetables that he already played with during his professional stage in hotels and restaurants. This buffet is pure nature, with the colors of citrus fruit, red, green, tropical and continental fruits, and fresh and meaty vegetables such as pumpkin, eggplant, or beetroot, among others. A festival for the eyes and taste with creations as attractive as their Sweet potato pear tart; Coconut strawberry rice pudding; Eggplant tatin; or Sweet pea strawberry. In total, 12 wonders with fruit and vegetables as the protagonists.
Four: Choc
A buffet entirely dedicated to chocolate, as the king ingredient of pastry. Three designer bars, four filled bars, four exclusive bonbons, six rocks, seven individual cakes, even an XXL cookie and a dessert in a glass. A whole palette of different formats with combinations of flavors as surprising as Chocolate, foie gras and black truffle; o Peanut and chocolate caramel, among the cakes; Strawberry and yogurt or Hazelnut and coffee, among the bonbons: Toffee, chocolate and chili or Yuzu and raspberry, among the bars; Crunchy milk chocolate or Strawberry and Pistachio, among the tablets; Almond and orange or Seeds and mango, among the rocks.
Five: Petit Fours
The most elegant and delicate of the buffets is the one dedicated to Petits Fours. There are a total of 12 exquisite morsels from which you can choose miniature cakes, fritters, filled meringues, marshmallows, mini tartlets, mini macarons, tea pastries, jellies, and more. Each piece is generally made up of three elements, one dry and two fresh. All the pleasure in a single bite with combinations such as a lemon and cherry fritter; an almond, tangerine and yuzu tea pastry; a mini green apple and celery tartlet; or a mini blueberry almond pavlova.
