The 4th Culinary Blog Show in Paris: An Incredible Day!
Last April 11th was the 4th edition of the Salon du Blog Culinaire in Paris. I was there last year too and really enjoyed it. This time, the fair was held at the Espace Commines near République. A full day dedicated to food and pastry, reserved exclusively for bloggers, with dozens of workshops offered by the Brita, Lidl and Puget teams, as well as by the 750 grammes chefs.
This year, I went alone. My husband didn’t come with me this time. Poor thing… it’s not easy following me everywhere, and last year he was a little bored, I have to admit :S Not discouraged in the slightest, I arrived around 10 a.m. and met up with Amina from the blog Sugardises Gourmandises, whom I had met at the Sugar Paris fair. And I got to know Séverine from the blog Délices et pâtisseries, who lives right next door to me.
Unlike last year, no need to queue to get in. I think the venue is a bit bigger — or at least much better laid out — and it’s so much more pleasant to move around and wander from workshop to workshop. I ran into Chef Damien (I love his good humour), Chef Christophe and Yves Camdeborde.
I had already planned my day (which would be 100% sweet). While waiting for the chocolate workshop, I wandered around a bit to scope out the different stands and stopped at the Lidl stand, which was packed with fresh fruit. There were French strawberries in abundance — absolutely delicious! You can’t imagine how many strawberry skewers I ate!! Florence from the blog Un flo de bonnes choses was making us a smoothie with fresh fruit, milk and oats. Very good.
Once I’d downed my smoothie, I headed to the chocolate workshop, led by Chef Régis. A really fascinating workshop that genuinely made me want to try tempering chocolate myself. I watched but also took part. We all got our hands dirty and made our own chocolate mendiants. It’s incredibly simple to do (once the chocolate is tempered, obviously ^^). We then moved on to chocolate decoration examples and learned how to use transfer sheets. Really great!
I wandered around and found Amina and Séverine again, but I was actually waiting for the next workshop — also led by Chef Régis. This time, it was all about chocolate glazing. And not just any glaze… mirror glaze! Perfect! I’ve been meaning to get some tips because I’m far from nailing it every time. The chef used ingredients we all have in our kitchens (so no glucose) which was a nice touch. I’ll give it another try next time. He had prepared a small entremets to glaze and wow… it was shiny! At the end of the workshop, I managed to ask him a few questions, so I can’t wait to put it all into practice.
It’s 1 p.m. and time for the brunch. Each blogger had brought a savoury or sweet dish. For my part, I brought a chocolate fondant — simple but effective! The chefs prepared composed salads. There was plenty of choice but I didn’t eat much savoury food (I’m a little fussy). I mostly gravitated towards the sweet table. This year, the dessert I’d brought made it onto the buffet and it was lovely to get positive feedback — always nice to hear 🙂 I joined the girls for lunch; a great opportunity to get to know each other a little better.
We had already spotted the next workshop: a sugar paste modelling session. Normally this is exactly the kind of workshop I avoid at all costs (sugar paste just isn’t my world), but this was modelling, and my niece’s birthday was coming up… it was the perfect chance to practise making some fun little things. We settled around the table with the girls. On the programme: modelling a little bear and an owl to decorate a cupcake. It was my second time working with sugar paste. I’d had a go once before when making a chocolate layer cake for Easter, with rabbits and carrots in sugar paste. It’s actually quite pleasant to work with — but you do need a lot of equipment to do it properly! Michelle from the blog L’atelier des sucreries was leading the workshop and it moved fast — you had to keep up! I also got to meet Nathalie from Mes tribulations gourmandes, Steph and her daughter Lolie from L’atelier de Steph et Lolie and Mehdiya from Poire et cactus. A wonderful atmosphere around the table!
Photo credit: Aux gourmandises de Steph
No time to make the elephant and the giraffe, as another workshop caught my eye — led by Céline from the blog L’heure du cream, just like last year. She was making mini strawberry pavlovas and I had a front-row seat (as you can see ^^).
Unfortunately, I didn’t stay until the end of the recipe. The thing is, Philippe Conticini had arrived a little while earlier. Incredible — Philippe Conticini, right there in front of me. I admire this chef enormously and it was truly an honour to be there that day. Last year I’d had to leave early and hadn’t been able to meet him. So I left Céline at the Lidl stand and went to find Amina and Séverine. A small group had gathered around the chef, who was sharing all sorts of anecdotes. I could listen to him talk for hours! And then, gradually, some people started asking for a photo… that was our cue too! I had even taken the time to go back to the cloakroom to retrieve my copy of Philippe Conticini‘s “Best of” book, which I’d brought along. You never know… I had the book in my hands but hesitated to ask for an autograph. I went for it! He is so incredibly kind and generous, so approachable and so down-to-earth. I took the chance to tell him how much I admire his work and how happy I was to meet him. One photo and one autograph later, I couldn’t bring myself to leave the group and listened to him talk about his craft, his family… Eventually it was time for him to go, and together with the girls we took one last selfie with the chef! What an unforgettable memory!
My poor back was starting to complain… and yet, I hadn’t had time to catch Chef Régis‘s caramel workshop. Drat!
The day ended with the raffle (I never win at these things) and an evening at the 750g workshop was organised for those who wanted to keep the fun going. As for me, that’ll have to be for another time — I was absolutely exhausted. Time to head home, but not empty-handed. I left with 2 big bags full of fruit and vegetables (including 1 kg of strawberries!!!) and goodies.
I had a wonderful day. I met some really lovely bloggers and chatted far more easily than last year (an extra year of blogging makes a real difference!). As I said last year, this fair is the very embodiment of sharing — and it feels great!
A huge thank you to 750g, the partners (Lidl, Puget and Brita), the chefs, Philippe Conticini and all the other bloggers who made this such a wonderful and enriching day! Thank you also to photographer Sylvain Bertrand, who kindly made his photos available to us (those are the ones with the 750g logo).
I’m finding myself increasingly tempted by the Salon du Blog Culinaire in Soissons… 😉