Meilleur Ouvrier de France ice cream maker and creator of La Glacerie Paris, David Wesmael is an ice cream artist who combines ice cream know-how and pastry techniques. She shares the secrets to making good ice cream and talks about her summer collection inspired by Brittany.
Madame Figaro: What is your definition of good ice cream or good sorbet?
David Wesmael: For me, it’s the complete transcription of the flavor we want to enhance, of the ingredient we want to emphasize. This requires real know-how and great technique. We don’t always realize the precision that the profession of an ice cream maker requires. It is consistent with the search for the right balance between different raw materials and the right product. A delicious chewy fruit will not always be suitable for, for example, sorbet. Only tests can allow you to make the perfect choice and take ideal doses of sugar, milk… Calculate, try, that’s what good ice cream with the right texture and taste hides.
How long does it take to make an ice cream?
When you have 33 years in the business like me, you have to admit that basic recipes often work on the first try. Sometimes it takes a second to perfect, but it’s pretty fast. The works are especially interesting. At La Glacerie Paris we have seasonal collections and other periods. That’s where the complexity comes in, because we’re going to develop unexpected associations, work on original products. This summer, for example, the collection is inspired by Brittany and we used wheat. We have studied many ways and in our recipes it is specially roasted and caramelized to express all its nuances. We also offer a temporary vanilla-yuzu-matcha accord and will be introducing a strawberry red pepper recipe with local produce during the summer. It’s hard to say how long it takes to design these professions because there is a sourcing, creation phase. Because we do small quantities for these offerings, we can afford to go for the complexity. I would say that with this type of marriage you become a chef.
You talk about cooking, but you bring a very creative dimension to the world of ice cream. We are close to pastry with some of your recipes.
I started in pastry, then ventured into ice cream, a job that fascinated me. I was thus a Meilleur Ouvrier de France ice cream maker in 2004. In my eyes these two professions belong to the same worlds and that is what I try to show at La Glacerie Paris. I use my knowledge of pastry techniques to create my ice creams. This makes it possible to develop new modes and moments of consumption. Tubes, frozen bars, frozen candies, frozen chocolate bars, desserts reimagined with a modern spirit… All these contribute to making you want to eat ice cream in all seasons and from morning to night. Moreover, we feel both at home and in other homes that the way of thinking in terms of ice cream is changing, and we do not limit their consumption to summer and cones.
This year, the theme of your summer collection is Brittany. Why How did you work?
This collection was born from the relationship between our house and Maison Leroux, the famous Breton chocolatier and “caramel maker”. So I wanted to give a nod to this event, highlighting Breton products. I discovered a few. The Plougastel strawberry I chose to marry, in a sorbet containing 70% fruit, slightly purified with seawater to bring out the iodized side that reminds me of the ocean, and with oyster pepper, a 5 berry blend that used to be used by fishermen. To tone this seafood There’s also a Ribot milk ice cream, where the thick side of this typically Breton curd is counterbalanced by the toasted buckwheat. Finally, near Rennes, I discovered a herd of Froment du Léon cows, an old breed of cows. The serious and dedicated work of the breeder allows to obtain exceptional milk, which is used to prepare extraordinary butter with a very yellow, strong taste. I had never made buttercream ice cream before and managed to get ice cream that was non-greasy, very creamy and soft. To bring out that buttery flavor without overpowering it, I added some Lambig, an apple cider distillate. Along with these three creations, I also developed a frozen dessert called, with a wink, Kouign à moi. This is my reinterpretation of kouign-amann. The first step was to create the mold design to make this quintessential Breton cake an eye-popping dessert. In terms of ingredients, I worked with caramelized wheat, fresh Breton apple sorbet, buttermilk ice cream mousse, Maison Leroux salted butter caramel and a puff pastry that brings crunch and indulgence. This type of creation requires a different approach to traditional ice cream. Indeed, we are not going to look for a “spatulatable” texture, nor even a cabinet for instant tasting. It is necessary, really, to be able to cut off this Quinn. There is also all the work around additional recipes: caramel, candied fruit, cookie… A mix of techniques that, as I said at the beginning, are quite complex and therefore rare.
Source: Le Figaro
