Kings of Pastry (2010)

Kings of Pastry is a film by Chris Hegedus and DA Pennebaker about a prestigious pastry competition called Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (Best Craftsmen in France). This documentary is very refreshing to me, personally. I love watching cooking competitions, and when I saw this film I never thought it would be this intense, or better yet this "obsessed". Compared to this, Top Chef seems like a warm-up exercise. However, it would be best to acknowledge that Kings of Pastry focused on pastrymaking (of course). With the little knowledge I have about the culinary world, pastry is one of  the hardest, if not the most intricate in food making. As I've observed, gourmet chefs often fail (miserably) at making desserts. There are a few snotty ones who claim that being a master chef means you can do both gourmet and pastry. But I tend to agree that pastry is perhaps a bit more complicated than cooking savory dishes due to the precision required in making them. But that doesn't make one better than the other.

I love eating desserts, and up to this day I'm still surprised on why some people don't really care about having a cake after a full meal. Upon watching Kings of Pastry, I was even more surprised at the level of seriousness these chefs exhibit towards "making cake".But this is definitely not just about making cake.  The documentary follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, Regis Lazard, and Philippe Rigollot as they compete in a three-day marathon of pastrymaking in the hopes of getting the coveted blue/white/red collar and the title of Un Des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France. Jacquy is co-founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago. His partner Sebastien Canonne already achieved the MOF title, and he was coaching Jacquy for the competition. For Regis Lazard, this will be his second time competing for the title as he already lost on his first try. Philippe Rigollot, on the other hand, is also an accomplished chef whose passion for pastry was largely influenced by his own mother, a pastry chef too for that matter.

There were 13 other competitors but these three chefs were the highlight of the docu. I am amazed at how passionate they are about their craft. I never knew these guys were the ultimate perfectionists. Hegedus and Pennebaker did a wonderful job at building the momentum of the entire film. At first you can see them during the early days of preparation. It's amazing how they create sugar sculptures like it was indeed a priced piece of art. I don't even want to eat them or touch them for fear they might crumble. At the onset of the film, these sugar sculptures really looked odd to me as they were neither pretty nor appetizing. They all looked like abstract glass projects, some even phallic in structure or maybe that was just my imagination. The other thing that bothered me was how they taste the pastries. It's a very critical process almost to the point of being mechanical. During one of the trial works, Sebastien commented how Jacquy's muffins have uneven glazings. For the love of God it was so little and so delicate that I'm dumbfounded he even noticed those things. One little criticism and it means you have to do the entire thing all over again. It was that intense.

It was during the contest proper that I've loosened up and was finally beginning to understand and appreciate all the intensity. I can't find the best word to describe it. Suffice it to say, everything the chefs made were mouthwatering, beautiful, intricate all at the same time. I loved watching Top Chef Desserts, and this puts them to shame. These chefs are true artisans. I wish I knew all the names of the pastries they were making. All I know is that the theme for that year's MOF was marriage. The chefs created a buffet of dessert treats that would feature a wedding cake and an array of minute tarts, macaroons, pies etc., almost like a heaven of amuse bouche. You have to see this film if only for this part alone. It wasn't just the drool-worthy(ness) of the final day of competition, but also how the mise en place of each chef looked like works of art in a pastry way. Beautiful is too weak a word indeed.

One pivotal moment which  made me love this film was when Philippe Rigollot's main wedding cake/sculpture crumbled minutes before the end of day three (the final day). As one critic perfectly described it:

“Who would have guessed that the most heartbreaking TV moment of the year would involve a grown man attempting to place a hilariously frou-frou sugar sculpture on a cake? The cherry on the top of a bizarre, involving and unmissable film.” – Phil Harrison, Time Out London

It sounds funny but I wasn't at all amused while watching it. I love dramas especially a real one like this. I felt so bad for Philippe. In fact, I was rooting for him among all three chefs featured in this film. I believe this was a brilliant film moment. Philippe had this ridiculously ambitious looking sculpture on top of his cake. In an attempt to edit a few things, it crumbled to the ground. He was shaking. He turned to the window, went out, and took a breath of fresh air before returning to the kitchen only to cry while attempting to save what was left of the damn cake. It was the perfect twist and the perfect parable. Philippe buckled up and finished what he started. I can almost hear the OST if this was a Hollywood movie.

Kings of Pastry ended on a bittersweet note. I won't go into the details as I've already rambled here. It just occurred to me how come there are no women chefs involved in MOF. Maybe I'm mistaken. It was still a delight watching grown men create ribbons and flowers for almost an hour and a half with so much passion the Olympics would be put to shame. This is a real delight to watch. I would recommend it to any foodie and to individuals who love to see "passion" in action. Love.

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