Cordes sur Ciel and its Croquants

A “culinary journey” dedicated to the Maison Andrieu and its delicious “Croquants de Cordes” in the beautiful city of Cordes sur Ciel! This time we will go behind the scenes of the pastry shop that invented the recipe in 1872 and that has not changed since then! A passion that Patrick was kind enough to share with us!

Before we begin our tour of the patisserie, a quote from Albert Camus:

“One travels for years without really knowing what one is looking for, one wanders in the noise, entangled with desires or repentances, and one suddenly arrives in one of those two or three places that await each of us in this world. The traveler who, from the terrace of Cordes, looks out over the summer night thus knows that he need go no further and that, if he wants, the beauty here, day after day, will remove him from all solitude.”

Once in the basement of the store(http://www.maisonandrieu.fr/)  in the main street, at 6 Grand Rue of l’Horloge of Cordes sur Ciel, I had the pleasure to attend the making of the famous croquants! The ingredients are ready, already weighed! A simple and almost magical recipe…

Our chef Patrick Sarthou puts the first three ingredients, flour, sugar and French almonds, into the mixer bowl.

Just let the machine run and add the egg whites. The dough is almost ready!

The dough is put on a floured work surface…

Now Patrick simply rolls the dough into a fairly thin sausage.

This one is sliced into 1 cm pieces!

And the slices  are placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

It takes only 10 minutes of cooking to perfectly cook the crunchy bits, which will bubble up. These cookies are almost alive when they bake!

Just look at their faces before…  

And then!

Patrick in front of the family creation. What a pleasure to hear him talk about how the crisps “sing” when they come out of the oven! It is true that they crack and whistle, it seems that they want to reveal their secret!

You can buy the most authentic “Croquants de Cordes” in bags of various weights.

In the kitchen, Patrick also introduced me to the iron for making “Curbelets”, a kind of caramel wafers. This iron has been in the family for generations!

I thank again the Andrieu-Sarthou family, Patrick his son and daughter who were kind enough to receive me and offer me delicious cakes!