By Valerie Sartor
China is a country where people are obsessed with food and in fact, eating together is the primary way to build relationships in this culture. Until recently baked goods were really not on the Chinese agenda because they are not really part of the traditional diet, other than some weird steamed chewy buns called mian bao. But nowadays in Beijing and other large Chinese cities there are some very fine bread and pastry shops. They've sprung up to accommodate foreign residents as well as the growing number of worldly Chinese who like to vary their culinary habits.
Today, in many ways, searching for a good piece of pastry with a great cup of coffee in Beijing brings to mind Alice's restaurant: you can get anything you want. Some folks feel it's more like Alice in Wonderland: they're wandering around China's capital city – but they're never really sure what they're getting into and ultimately it's safe and full of adventure. Names and presentation do baffle and bamboozle foreigners, just as living in China can make life topsy-turvy from a cultural perspective. But despite any linguistic challenges everyone has to eat – sweet stuff is always a global attraction.
For those who discriminate the key thing to note is that all pastries are not created equal. Remember two things: the first being that quality standards are determined by a person's roots regarding grains. Rye signifies heavenly bliss for most of us with heritages east of the Maginot line and bleached wheat to the west, just as the north is for noodles and south is for rice in China. The fineness and color of the farine, the heaviness and amount of the sugar, and, of course, the exquisite blending of fat and milk products into chocolate: these almost alchemical techniques, these artistic leanings, make those who crave a true Sacher torte forgive demanding prima donnas because they can create works of art by combining ingredients in ways to make customers sigh and swoon.
For those who prefer to eat authentic and traditional pastries, tortes and breads – this edible culinary art in Beijing is well worth searching out. Quite rightly the French, with their sense of style and meticulous fashion, have divided bread and pastry into two distinct categories: boulanger and patissier and even sub divided the pastry chef into chocolatier. Chefs fluent in all three art forms live and breathe in China's capital along with other chefs who have mastered meats, entrees and miscellaneous organic substances.
Consumers must also gauge their eager eyes and watering mouths with their pocketbook. Beijing more than other large metropolises gives rise to those that dare to push the envelope, perhaps because the language here is so complex or perhaps because the city is so crowded and competitive. In any case, going on an excursion for pastry with a potential partner will tell you more about a man's character than reading his resume or chatting up his mum. Believe me, his generosity and sensual nature becomes as translucent as a sheer silk scarf if he takes you to Le Comptoir. Conversely, my friends would dump any fellow (except a starving student) who tells you that Bread Talk has great things to munch and swallow. For those true connoisseurs of loaves and petit fours, for those solvent and discriminating hedonists seeking love and other things – and for marginal male adventurers with a guitar and credit card or two – there is absolutely no doubt that Le Comptoir luxuriates at the top of the every girl's and boy's list and any of the three of M. Ancelet's Le Comptoir outlets are winning places for a rendezvous, romantic or otherwise.
