Without waiting for the beginning of January, and just after the Yule logs, the galettes des rois invade the bakers’ stalls and the shelves of supermarkets. But not all of them are made “home” and with Normandy butter like those of Romuald Meunier near Rouen.
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They arrive earlier and earlier each year and are now presented before the Christmas holidays in many points of sale. The galettes des rois are the stars of the New Year.
To attract customers, brands offer competitions with prizes to be won hidden in the pancakes, gold and even cars. Others highlight the themes and characters of the bean collections that garnish their pancakes.
But neither contest, beans or crowns guarantee the quality of the essential: the puff pastry and the filling of the pancake.
More and more demanding, consumers want to know what they are eating. He reads the labels and worries about where the raw materials come from. This is how the most discerning of “consom’acteurs” discovered that a number of bakeries resold croissants and cakes made by the food industry and delivered discreetly early in the morning.
The window of the “Délices normands”, a bakery where the pastries are made “at home”
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© Stéphane L’Hôte / France Televisions
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Defender of craftsmanship
Near Rouen, in Franqueville-Saint-Pierre, a baker refused to sell industrial products and made the choice to produce on site with its team of viennoiseries and pastries, focusing on quality.
Under the brand “Norman delights” Romuald Meunier’s team includes 6 pastry chefs, 3 bakers and 5 saleswomen.
After starting out as a pastry chef, he then trained in the bakery. Companion of duty and a graduate of the national bakery and pastry institute of Rouen (INBP) Romuald Meunier knew several houses before settling in Franqueville Saint-Pierre.
Behind the shop, in his large 200 m2 laboratory, he in turn transmits to his apprentices the gestures of the trade, respect for quality and a love for a job well done.
video length: 01:49
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VIDEO – December 2020: a Norman baker is betting on quality for the galette des rois. Report: Arthur Deshayes and Stéphane L’Hôte (editing: Pierre Cadinot)
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An award-winning galette
Already rewarded for his traditional French baguette, apple turnovers and Norman tart, Romuald Meunier has won two consecutive years of the competition for the best almond pancake in Seine-Maritime and Eure.
Cutting circles of puff pastry with a thickness of 1.5 millimeters
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© Stéphane L’Hôte / France Televisions
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A competition pancake which has the particularity of being made on site with quality ingredients. First there is the puff pastry which is made using the “reverse puff pastry” technique. That is to say that we “enclose” a layer of dough between two layers of butter.
We do the opposite of everyone else: we put the dough in the butter. It gives an incomparable fondant to the galette, a better fondant, a better crisp.
Better quality in all… “
Before cooking, Romuald Meunier covers the pancakes with gilding.
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© Stéphane L’Hôte / France Televisions
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To make a difference and aim for excellence, one of the other stages in the production of this cake is the preparation of a homemade almond cream, whose recipe is jealously guarded.
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