{"id":80,"date":"2018-11-23T09:33:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-23T09:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/2018-11-23-tributes-to-bernard-pacaud-part-ii-the-last-of-the-mohicans\/"},"modified":"2024-03-03T15:45:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T15:45:48","slug":"2018-11-23-tributes-to-bernard-pacaud-part-ii-the-last-of-the-mohicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/2018-11-23-tributes-to-bernard-pacaud-part-ii-the-last-of-the-mohicans\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes to Bernard Pacaud, Part II: The Last of the Mohicans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Inconceivable these days, Bernard Pacaud<\/strong> began his apprenticeship with the Lyons culinary legend La M\u00e8re Brazier<\/strong> when he only 15 years old. Her demands on the quality of ingredients of all kinds defined Pacaud\u2019s cooking philosophy very early: \u201cOnly use the best. The guests end up paying for it\u201d, he says.  Pacaud also does not pose for front pages and rarely appears on television. \u201cI\u2019m just interested in doing my job as well as possible,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: Owen Franken<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But Bernard Pacaud is disillusioned: \u201cJust look at what has become of gastronomy!\u201d Disappointment can be read over his well-groomed face with its three day old beard. \u201cGastronomy has gone the way of perfumery, champagne and cognac. Beautiful packaging, imaginative shapes. But what is in it? With Cognac, chemistry replaces floral essences, and adding caramel replaces the aromas and natural color that come from barrel storage. And on the dish only the shape counts. The eye does not eat anymore. It just sees extraneous decoration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a moment Bernard Pacaud appears lonely in the middle of his restaurant. Behind him lies the noble Place des Vosges, in the opinion of many the most beautiful square in Paris. Left and right, the dining room brigade inspects every detail again, watchful looks combing the interior in 17th century ch\u00e2teau style for inaccuracies. Is the distance between tables correct? Is the historical tapestry without wrinkles? Do the spotlights in the front dining salon point the right way? Just now Pacaud himself has just straightened a candle wick. Then he goes into story-telling. First the foams and jellies that are served everywhere today. \u201cI prefer the emotion to the emulsion,\u201d he grumbles, tightening his blue apron. Then comes the memory:  His youth, spent with Lyonnais gastronomy when thrushes and snipes were still grilled and the \u00e9crevisses pattes rouges<\/em> (red-footed crayfish) were in the kitchen transformed into delicious gratins<\/em> and quenelles.<\/em> \u201cWe had so many crayfish that we sold their shells to other restaurants so they could make crayfish butter.\u201d Today, the real, wild pattes rouges<\/em> are almost extinct. \u201cBack in Lyon, we used only manicured Bresse poultry.\u201d Manicured poultry, if you pardon me, I ask.  \u201cThe chickens had to be clean, the farmers had to be clean. La M\u00e8re Brazier demanded this\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bernard Pacaud experienced it himself. He has over 55 years of experience in the top echelons of gastronomy. When Eug\u00e9nie Brazier<\/strong> (1895-1976), the best chef in Lyon, hired Pacaud, a Breton orphan, she was a living legend who had six stars in the Guide Michelin<\/em> for her two restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s the story that in 1953 the directors of the Waldorf Astoria in New York had offered her an annual salary of $ 150,000. Eug\u00e9nie refused. Allegedly, an Indian maharajah is said to have offered her a kitchen with pots of pure gold. Again, Eug\u00e9nie refused. Only once could she not say no, when a man from the utility company came to the door. The restaurant must now be connected to the mains, he explains. The time of wood and coal stoves is over. And Eug\u00e9nie Brazier said, \u201cIf there is electricity in my house, then it will be home-made.\u201d She then installed a generator in the basement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was in this atmosphere that the young Bernard grew up. La M\u00e8re Brazier thus shaped Pacaud\u2019s image of the world and the kitchen. When he began his apprenticeship in 1962 in Col de la Lu\u00e8re, 15 miles due west of Lyon, he often had to look after the small herd of pigs \u201cbecause homemade tastes better.\u201d \u201cAt that time, we shopped for poultry from Bresse, tomatoes from Marmont and so forth.\u201d Even now Pacaud selects his produce and occasionally criticizes the suppliers. He takes c\u00e8pes <\/em>from a box, examines them one by one and simply gives back what he considers sub-par. The suppliers don\u2019t grumble because Pacaud pays well. \u201cIf you know the ingredients, watch them closely. If langoustines are not really fresh, I can tell by the shape. Then I always feel the ammonia burning my fingertips. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes customers, suppliers, and friends tell him that the business about the cult of great produce is basically a thing of the past. Pacaud rolls his eyes: \u201cAfter La M\u00e8re Brazier, I worked for Claude Peyrot<\/strong> in his Restaurant Vivarois<\/strong> in Paris. He was one of the most creative chefs back then. The first curry oysters \u2013 that\u2019s what he was most known for.  But the product remained the star. At that time, we did not have to paint with ingredients.\u201d The pure tradition of Eug\u00e9nie Brazier, the fresh ideas of Claude Peyrot, these were the beginnings. In the tiny restaurant that he opened in 1981 on Rue de Bi\u00e8vre on the Left Bank, Pacaud wanted to do everything differently. \u201cIt was meant to be a restaurant for friends..\u201d Daily specials from the blackboard, two men in the kitchen, two in the service. On Monday there was pot-au-feu<\/em>, Tuesdays, veal rago\u016dt. The simple little restaurant won high gastronomic honors in just two years. A move was called for. Pacaud relocated to the ground floor of the stately H\u00f4tel de Chaulnes (1605) on the Place de Vosges. \u201cJust the best for the guests,\u201d Pacaud tells me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernard Pacaud is an anachronism among the French chefs. He does not open a second restaurant or a bistro; does not offer tasting menus; and rarely poses for the press. His brigade is loyal to him. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working with Monsieur Pacaud for at least 25 years,\u201d explained the now-retired Ma\u00eetre d\u2019H\u00f4tel Pierre Le Moullac<\/strong>, who was Pacaud\u2019s alter ego in the dining room, now seamlessly replaced by Laurent Godard<\/strong>, who explains the dishes and recommends the wines. Pacaud does not enter the dining room, and he refuses to advertise\u2013 a simple marble shield with the word \u201cL\u2019Ambroisie<\/strong>\u201d is sufficient. Pacaud even renounces the word \u201crestaurant\u201d. \u201cI do not want to see my name on every jar and fork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pacaud told me, \u201cThere\u2019s still some left, namely to continue to do my job as well as possible.\u201d And indeed a visit to L\u2019Ambroisie shows that even in today\u2019s kitchen nothing can replace first-class produce. The lobster with chestnuts and pumpkin in sauce diable <\/em>is one of his classics, which he saut\u00e9s with cognac, the diable,<\/em> or devil ingredient, is married with the crustacean\u2019s iodine \u2013 a clever but not overly-complicated creation. He sometimes prepares a tourte <\/em>for his guests, a large warm p\u00e2t\u00e9 under airy puff pastry. Sometimes it hides scallops, other times game birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s tourte <\/em>is impressive as soon as the server cuts it open. Pacaud has skillfully stacked the duck breast, roasted to perfection, with duck liver. Sometimes a little veal is included; a wonderful dish that is almost never served anywhere else. Why isn\u2019t it? Pacaud raises his eyebrow: \u201cThe tourte <\/em>must be prepared before the evening service and because of its temperature and fragile freshness, it has to be served to the earliest-arriving clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For dessert Pacaud likes to serve a simple chocolate cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It tastes heavenly and is accompanied by traditional vanilla ice cream. Is there a secret to the recipe? A trick? Pacaud marvels at the question, \u201cYou should use good chocolate,\u201d he says. The seemingly simple arlettes from our menu gain in depth accompanied with wine, for example a sweet Vouvray moelleux \u201cLa Coul\u00e9e d\u2019Or\u201d from the Domaine Bourillon-Dorl\u00e9ans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best dishes on the menu is sweetbreads in all shapes and sizes, for example with Quenelles \u00e0 la financi\u00e8re<\/em> (poultry quenelles<\/em>) and macaroni. The quenelles<\/em> are surprisingly light and have lost their grandmotherly floury heaviness. In general, the sweetbreads that he serves come with capers. At L\u2019Ambroisie, clients who don\u2019t ordinarily like organ meats end up liking his sweetbreads. The lemons provide freshness, the capers for spice. Again, a harmonious, seemingly simple dish. \u201cI do not create, I simplify,\u201d says Pacaud. \u201cWhen I can tweak my dishes as little as possible, I am satisfied. This is why Frenchman secretly admire Italian cuisine: Clear aromas, seemingly simple preparations, and, in their apparent simplicity, completed beautiful dishes! But those who only eat in Paris cannot understand that. The sense of good products is also rapidly being lost.\u201d This is Pacaud\u2019s biggest worry: \u201cPeople unlearn eating,\u201d he sighs. \u201cThey say that beef and chicken are tough when these animals still have muscles. They like sweet flavors in appetizers.\u201d But where can you still learn to eat, or rather get to learn?  Pacaud shrugs and looks at the spotlessly white table. He does not give the obvious answer: At L\u2019Ambroisie in Paris on the Place de Vosges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inconceivable these days, Bernard Pacaud began his apprenticeship with the Lyons culinary legend La M\u00e8re Brazier when he only 15 years old. Her demands on the quality of ingredients of all kinds defined Pacaud\u2019s cooking philosophy very early: \u201cOnly use the best. The guests end up paying for it\u201d, he says. Pacaud also does not pose for front pages and rarely appears on television. \u201cI\u2019m just interested in doing my job as well as possible,\u201d he says. But Bernard Pacaud is disillusioned: \u201cJust look at what has become of gastronomy!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":81,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,19],"tags":[98,16,21,18],"ppma_author":[281],"authors":[{"term_id":281,"user_id":10,"is_guest":0,"slug":"joergzipprick","display_name":"J\u00f6erg Zipprick","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7d2409a3187b73d8b0a14587edba415?s=96&d=mm&r=g","first_name":"J\u00f6erg","last_name":"Zipprick","user_url":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7960,"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/7960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gastromondiale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}