PHOTOGRAPHS: TOBY SCOTT. FOOD STYLING: JESS MEYER. STYLING: SARAH BIRKS
Your all-star team
On starter and main… Legendary chef Pierre Koffmann
PORTRAITS: DAVID HARRISON, ANDREW SILLETT, ALUN CALLENDER
A master of classical French cooking, Pierre is one of a handful of chefs in the UK to have been awarded three Michelin stars, for his former London restaurant La Tante Claire. He helped train chefs such as Gordon Ramsay.
On bread and pudding… Baking master Richard Bertinet
Also renowned as a chef, author and teacher, Richard worked in top bakeries and restaurants in France and the UK before opening his famed bakery and cookery school, The Bertinet Kitchen, in Bath.
On wine… World-reputed expert Jancis Robinson OBE
Jancis is one of the world’s most respected wine authorities. She’s authored and edited numerous books, including the acclaimed World Atlas of Wine. She helps choose wine for the Queen’s household.
Turn the page for the menu from the maestros
ALL-STAR MENU FOR 6
Mini baguettes
Scallops with squid ink sauce
Sauté d’agneau (lamb stew) Purée de pommes de terre (posh mash)
Flambéed Grand Marnier brioche bread and butter pudding
Mini baguettes
Words from the maestro: Richard Bertinet
“Becoming a good baker is about repetition: watch me and practise my techniques again and again and they’ll become second nature.
It’s key to understand why you do things, so I like to teach the story behind the steps.
For example, you don’t add salt with the yeast when making bread because it slows fermentation. You add it later to give the yeast and flour a headstart. If your foundation isn’t solid, you can never progress.”
RICHARD’S TIPS
•A scraper is vital to get the techniques right – it’s like an extension of your fingers. Plastic ones are available for a few pounds.
• If you don’t have a lame (baker’s blade) to score the dough, use a small, sharp serrated knife.
• Fresh yeast has a better flavour than dried, but you can swap one for the other. For 10g yeast fresh use 7g dried (or 5g active dried).
• Adding salt once the dough is mixed allows the flour/yeast to fully hydrate. When the salt is added, you’ll see the dough change and become more elastic as the salt tightens the gluten strands.
• Spraying water inside the oven just before baking the baguettes keeps the crust soft for 5-10 minutes, letting the dough expand. If you don’t have a spray bottle, heat a roasting tin in the base of the oven and add some water to the tray when the baguettes go in.