A BIT ABOUT MICHEL – AND WHERE TO LEARN FROM THE MASTER IN PERSON
PHOTOGRAPHS: DAN JONES. FOOD STYLING: KATY MCCLELLAND. STYLING: WEI TANG
" Also known as oeufs à la neige, îles flottantes is a go-to dessert in France. My mother-in-law, who’s from Provence in the south of France, used to make it a lot, and would flavour the cream with bay, cherry or apricot leaves. They would give a fragrant, almost almond-like flavour to the cream. Every region has their special way of doing this dessert, but it’s basically a perfect custard or crème anglaise, flavoured however you want, topped with lovely little meringues covered in caramel. The texture is fabulous: when you crack the caramel, you’ve got soft meringue and creamy crème anglaise underneath. It’s cheap as well. If you add vanilla, it puts the price up, but otherwise it’s eggs, milk and sugar. At the old Le Gavroche, when my father and uncle first opened, they would serve desserts on a trolley and there were always floating islands in a big silver bowl – amountain of caramel and meringues the maître d’ would spoon out ceremoniously to serve. ''
A scion of the Roux family fine-dining dynasty, Michel began his career with a patisserie apprenticeship in Paris. For nearly 30 years he’s been chefpatron of two-Michelinstar restaurant Le Gavroche, opened in 1967 by his late father Albert and uncle, Michel Sr. He also oversees the food at London hotel The Langham and teaches at its cookery school, Sauce by The Langham.
Roux’s rules
Sauce offers full day and shorter ‘building block’ courses on everything from pasta to French cuisine, taught by The Langham’s expert chefs. Michel Roux Jr’s classes are a chance to learn from the main man, while preparing a menu of his design. saucebylangham.com