Kings of Pastry, a documentary about the quest for the prestigious French pastry award, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (M.O.F. or Best Craftsmen in France), was screened last night at the Princeton Public Library. Filmmakers D A Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus were on hand after the film for a question and answer session.
The film follows 3 French pastry chefs in their quest to earn this highest of culinary designations. There is no trophy to bring home and no prize money. Those that are gifted (and lucky) enough to earn the M.O.F. receive a tricolor collar to go around their chef’s jacket. We learn that in France it is illegal to wear that collar without having earned it.
The filmmakers spent the most time with Chicago-based French pastry chef, Jacquy Pfeiffer, co-founder of the elite French Pastry School in Chicago. We watch him prepare to go to France and we see the challenge of his last time-trial before the actual competition, which is held every 4 years. That’s not the only similarity to the Olympics. The chefs train hard, and often heartbreakingly, for years in advance. They give up much of their personal lives and professional pursuits to prepare for the M.O.F.
In addition to Jacquy, 15 other French chefs made it into the finals after competing in a semi-final of 70 chefs.
In the grueling 3 day test to earn the MOV, the chefs are charged with producing a wedding cake display. This includes the arduous tasks of creating precarious sugar sculptures and complex chocolate work, not to mention completing the presentation with many individual pastries.
And, remember, all of these elements are on top of preparing the wedding cakes. And many of the works are LITERALLY ON TOP OF the wedding cakes. As the perilous displays are moved to the buffet tables, the audience (and the chefs and filmmakers) hold their collective breaths.
Pennebaker and Hegedus pointed out during the question period that they didn’t set out to make a food movie. They wanted to show people who are impassioned by what they do. They accomplished that in spades. They showed the drama and tension of the M.O.F. before, during and after the competition.
Happily for the public, part of the financing for the film was provided by public television, so Kings of Pastry will be aired on PBS stations across the country next Tuesday, June 21st at 10 pm, as the premier film in the 24th season of POV. It is a consummate of display of excellence under fire (and ice).
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