Anne Sophie Pic’s best recipe ever – Cream caramel with muscovado sugar!
Many people around the globe consider Anne-Sophie Pic as one of the best chefs in the world! In France, Anne was the first woman who emerged as the most successful woman chef in her native France! Though this all was just magic of her expertise, that destiny granted her the crown of the head of a 129-year-old culinary lineage along with a little experience. And today, the most spectacular dishes of Annie spark up the pantries of four famous and award-winning eateries in Paris, Lausanne, London, and Valence! So, let’s have a deep dive into her exciting cooking career and discover more about this lady!
Who is Anne-Sophie Pic?
Anne Sophie Pic is a world-famous chef born on 12 July 1969 in Valence, Drôme, in France. This expert chef is also extensively known for being the daughter of the chef Jacques Pic. Since childhood, Annie has spent lots of time at her father’s restaurant, Maison Pic. Amazingly, Andre Pic (Her grandfather) was also an expert chef, and he was popularly known for his crayfish gratin dish.
Anne’s most famous dishes now thrill the dinner tables of many popular restaurants in France. Anne-Sophie Pic has now become a trendy name in the landscape of French cuisine. She took this career path over 25 years ago, and since then, she has created the most exotic culinary arts in various pantries. Apart from this, Pic has also started a venture of cooking school. Till now, she has published about ten cookbooks, and interestingly, her very unique line of gourmet food tops the most exotic French cuisines list!
How was Anne Sophie Pic’s complete journey in the culinary world?
Anne has gained her family’s expertise, as the culinary art runs in the blood veins of their whole ancestry! Along with Anne, many people from her dynasty are celebrated chefs. Amazingly, Anne’s grandfather was a top-rated and highly celebrated chef who opened the Valence restaurant named Maison Pic. This excellent eatery even earned three stars from Michelin. Later in 1059, her father started to handle the restaurant, and eventually, it transformed into a Nouvelle Cuisine place. Anne-Sophie was a bright student in studies and had a keen interest in studying math and science at school; when she returned to her family, she began with her training under her father’s expertise. Three months later, her father died and Anne had to become much ardent in learning all by herself.
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What is Anne-Sophie Pic’s food like?
Anne has spent a significant part of her childhood at her family restaurant, where she got a chance to learn many things about the culinary world. Pic began taking a deep interest in cooking and started cherishing her love for culinary arts. Pic has a beautiful idea of authentic French cuisines, yet her delicacies are pretty decent to her family’s famous dishes. However, Anne’s dishes are much more distinct with very different flavor layers. Her classic food menu always consists of soft boiled eggs with a pink-geranium consommé and tender mushrooms. Blending and amalgamating particular ingredients and flavors is the biggest challenge in culinary world, yet Anne has successfully emerged out of it. In one interview, Anne said, “creative spark is strong, it goes well.”
Is Anne much fastidious about the equipment she uses?
Well, Anne once said that “All chefs have this one thing which is quite similar, isn’t it?” She added, “I love to utilize all kinds of spoons as I like to taste the food while cooking, and cooked food could get contaminated by the over-usage of metal spoons. I also own one classic Japanese knife along with a unique tweezer, which is quite long, and I always use these whenever I prepare my plate – as these two help me get more detailed. Such excellent equipment types have their permanent place in my private kitchen, my specific area to try out some new recipes. This small kitchen is a little far away from the prime kitchen, so this place is relatively peaceful, and I can put my whole heart into preparing my dishes and executing new tips.
What does she want in a chef?
As per Anne, loyalty and honesty are quite requisite to her as a chef. She wants her team members to be wholly frank and honest towards everything that goes inside the Kitchen, including all the mistakes as well! She can’t tolerate the absence of these qualities in a chef, as she never likes to raise her voice in the kitchen. Also, she truly believes that people could work more efficiently in a quiet environment, as it gives them the space to listen to their mind and heart, and thus they could create the best.
What is Anne’s secret in managing many people?
Anne always tries to be frank and generous with all her team members, including my chefs; as she genuinely wants them to indulge wholeheartedly in all her endeavours and kitchen arts. Anne has spent a significant amount of time at her father’s restaurant, where she majorly learned to coordinate with the team member and manage the team well, and that’s why she knows the complete importance of working as a team. Anne actively tries to become their mentor as she faced many roadblocks when she started her career as a young chef and nobody was there to guide her well. Specifically, it was quite challenging for her when her father passed away. There was a big team of the father who first thought why Anne was a part of it!
When was the time when Anne realized that she had become a leader?
When she initially entered the culinary world, she tried to conceal that she was a woman chef. She deadly wanted men to recognize the chef that lies inside her in the first place. So, she began to act in distinct mannerisms. For 15 years, Anne has been trying hard to prove herself and dismissing the preconceived notions about being a woman chef. Yet now, she has made peace with the fact that being a woman chef makes her a little different in her approach.
How does being a woman chef make a difference?
Once Anne said that she could only speak about herself as a chef! Cuisines have always been very feminine from Anne’s perspective, maybe because she has always used more aromatic ingredients than many male chefs would! Since the beginning, Anne has been primarily influenced by aromatic and fragrant ingredients whenever she has worked on any recipe.
CREME CARAMEL WITH MUSCOVADO SUGAR – (Recipe courtesy - Anne Sophie Pic Recipes)
Ingredients
MUSCOVADO CARAMEL
- 100 g Sugar - 100
- 100 g Muscovado sugar or caster sugar
- 7.5 cl Water
CREME CARAMEL
- 1/2 Vanilla pod
- 50 cl Whole milk
- 2 Whole eggs
- 2 Egg yolks
- 100 g sugar
Instructions
Muscovado caramel
- Blend the two sugars and the water in a saucepan. Give it a light boil on medium heat flame. Also, keep baking molds ready in front of you. Dip the thermometer into the boiling sugar and take out the pan from the heat when the temperature reaches 160 ° C. Quickly drizzle up a layer of caramel on it, about 2 cm thick. Allow it to get cool.
A Cream Caramel
- In the lengthwise direction, chop the half vanilla pod. Poke the inner side with a sharp knife to take out the tiny black seeds. Boil its seeds and milk with the vanilla in a saucepan. Quickly blend the whole eggs, the sugar, and yolks by hand whisking in a bowl. Gently stream the warm vanilla milk, and then combine by whisking with hand. Get the oven ready by preheating it to 160 ° C.
Cooking and Whole Presentation
- Very gently, take out the half vanilla pod. In a very delicate manner, use a small ladle to stream egg cream and fill up the caramelized molds, keep in a plate with high edges and afterward stream little lukewarm water in it to make a double boiler almost near the height of the molds. Keep baking it for 15 to 20 minutes; cooking time would depend on the size of the molds. To avoid some mishaps, carefully pay attention to the consistency of the cream. The cream must get a little clotted yet should be trembling, and it should not solidify too much. Take out the mussels from the oven, also double boiler, then store them about 2 hours in the refrigerator. Serve the dish chilled!
