Tasting Tradition

The only difference between cooking in a kitchen and baking is the scale...baking is an exact science.

Jean-Jacques at work.

For years I've hesitated to write down any of my 'recipes' for fear of marginalizing them to a slavery of replication. I prefer conceptualizations of flavor rather than cloning taste every time I'm in the kitchen, so for the last year, every time I made something worth remembering I would happily describe the concept of the dish without filling in the details of how it is prepared, leaving those details to be interpolated and interpreted by whoever is trying to reconceptualize it. Essentially, this propagates a novelty about cooking--or an inconsistency that some may find annoying or inutile.

I'm beginning to think the same. And a Belgian bakery has made all the difference.

Boulangerie (and patisserie) De Pauw is a bakery located 15-20 minutes from Brussels center, owned and operated by a man I only know as Jean-Jacques. His family has kept the oven fired since 1927, making his one of few remaining artisanal bakeries in Belgium. While I could tempt you with a vivid description of the baguettes and pistolet crackling after they're raked from the gas oven into baskets reminiscent of the post-Sermon-on-the-Mount, I won't. Pictures--and a video--shall suffice. I will quickly note that the bread production is more or less silent--rare for a kitchen--due to the fact that one of the three-man team is deaf.

Jean-Jacques will retire within the next year, meaning that we had the increasingly rare opportunity to see him work. His day starts at 10:00 PM and gets busiest between 8:00-10:00 AM the following morning as loyal customers enter the storefront. Going to Boulangerie De Pauw has certainly become a tradition for them, one which depends heavily on the consistency of Jean-Jacques work. In simpler terms, Jean-Jacques is a cultural Templar: safeguarding the secrets of his craft, the measurements and techniques which make Belgian cuisine unique. It is heartbreaking to know that in a year, he will no longer be in Uccle keeping that tradition alive.

And I think to our own traditions, those foddered by a fastidious following of the recipes of loved ones. Her barbecue sauce, pie twists, and 'taco recipe' is how I've come to remember my grandmother who passed away in 1969. The same is said for Papa's peanut brittle. And as my grandmother's memory fades with Alzheimer's, it's those Christmas cookies that keep holiday memories alive. We all have these traditions and recipes and memories. Boulangerie De Pauw specializes in sustaining them.

I don't know what to do with this other than to say it. Maybe you know. I would love to hear what it is in the comments below.