Looking every bit as French as his name suggests, Mark Courseille, the pastry chef at Michel by Michel Richard in the Ritz-Carlton Tysons, sets some high standards with his elegant desserts. Considering that his father was a physics teacher, dealing with sophisticated sugary treats seems like an unusual career choice. But learning about his childhood clears up some puzzles. A native of Bordeaux, Courseille talks about his grandmother, who not only worked in a farmers’ market selling cheese but who also was an accomplished home-schooled pastry maker. “I went to market with her often,” he said. “I used to love it. When I was a kid, I was really interested in good food, and I used to make good sauces.” And one of his early culinary triumphs was to excel in roasting duck breast.
In addition, Courseille’s cousin owned a pastry shop, and used to make outstanding ?clairs. “I was really interested in making these,” he said. “They were so good.
| IF YOU GO |
| Michel by Michel Richard |
| » Where: The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, 1700 Tysons Blvd., McLean |
| » Info: 703-744-3999 |
| » Hours: Breakfast, 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Sunday; dinner, 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday to Saturday |
His culinary interests launched Courseille into the food world, and at the age of 12 he decided he wanted to be a cook. “I fell in love with cooking,” he said. “I would watch all the TV cooking shows.” By the age of 16, he says, most of his friends were still in school, but he was working most of the time. By the time he was 17, he earned a bachelor’s degree in restaurant business, learning both front and the back of the house management.
His turning point came when he enrolled in a pastry class. “When I started with pastry,” he said, “I fell in love with working with flour, sugar, and its precision and artistry.” Taking jobs in two local restaurants — Calicoba Caf? in Vieux-boucaux and in Hauterive St. James in Bouliac readied the young man for his future in the pastry kitchen.
At the age of 21, Courseille’s head pastry chef invited him to come to the United States to work in the kitchens of the now-closed Le Paradou, under renowned French chef, Yannick Cam. After 2 years there, he says, based on hearing of its reputation, he stopped by one day at Citronelle (Michel Richard’s French restaurant in Georgetown) just to check it out. “I spoke with the sous chef on Saturday and said I wanted to work here,” he said.
The rest, of course, is history. Courseille says he immediately fell in love with Richard’s food and kitchen creativity. “Michel likes to play with food. What you order comes out not what you expect,” he said. But for Courseille, perhaps the most important lesson he has learned is that all food must be good looking and plated the way a pastry chef would.
Q&A
What is your comfort food?
Family food, such as roast chicken or roast meat with French fries. I’m not picky about food. Give me something really simple, like what we went to in a little village.
What’s in your fridge?
Ice cream
Which is your favorite restaurant?
Et Voila, a little bistro, and Central and I go to Eastern Market area for Montmartre.
Which is your favorite place in the world?
My city, Bordeaux. It has lots of little streets with little restaurants.
Which are your must-have ingredients?
Chocolate and sugar. Nothing can replace sugar, and who doesn’t like to eat chocolate?
Recipe
Chocolate Cream Puffs
Makes 20 cream puffs
Mark Courseille makes Michel Richard’s cream puffs for events and the holidays.
For the cream puffs
1 cup whole milk
4 ounces (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into ?-inch cubes
Pinch fine sea salt
Pinch granulated sugar
? cup pastry or cake flour
5 large eggs
For the chocolate pastry cream
2 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
8 tablepoons cornstarch
4 ounces 60% semisweet chocolate, cut into ?-piece pieces
Fine sea salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
To make the cream puffs, place the milk, butter, salt and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and whisk in the flour. At this point, the mixture can be transferred to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or finished by hand. Whisk in the eggs, in two batches, incorporating each batch before adding the next.
With a pastry bag fitted with a ?-inch tip, pipe 20 2-inch-wide cream puffs onto the tray. Bake for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the pastry cream, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, chocolate, and a pinch of salt. Place in a microwave and cook for 2 minutes. Remove and whisk well, then return to the microwave for another 2 minutes. Remove and whisk. At this point, the chocolate should be melted.
Return to the microwave and cook for additional 2 to 4 minutes, stopping and stirring from time to time until the mixture comes to a boil. Carefully remove the bowl from the microwave. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
Shortly before assembling the pastries, remove the chocolate mixture from the refrigerator and stir to loosen slightly. Using a pastry bag fitted with a small tip, carefully fill the cream puffs with the pastry cream.
