Vegan Pastry & Cuisine School in Normandy, northern France

Gentle Gourmet Concept at the Domaine de Brocfontaine:
With our training center in Brosville in Normandy, northern France, Gentle Gourmet Concept's offers short, intensive vegan cooking programs for individuals and professionals from around the globe looking to raise their culinary expertise. Gentle Gourmet Concept's was formed with an experienced team that has been working for more than 15 years in the gastronomic restaurant sector and in the hotel industry.

Vegan Cooking Classes in Normandy:

Certificate Course in Vegan Pastry:
Duration: 6 weeks

This course covers basic pastry techniques and specific vegan savoir-faire. It focuses on French pastry culture and explores international influences also.

 - Introduction to Vegan Pastry:
• The History of Pastry and Pastry Chefs
• Pastry classification
• Analysis of traditional ingredients and needs for alternatives
• Analysis of techniques and gestures
• Hygiene, Sanitation, Safety and Equipment in pastry production
• Sauces, coulis, glazes and aspics
• Creams and inserts
• Fruit, herbs, spices and other flavorings
• Weekly Evaluation

- Miscellaneous Cakes & Cookies:
• Shortcrust pastry “pâtes à foncer”- for tarts, millefeuilles, French king cakes
• Leavened dough “pâtes levées”- viennoiseries (brioches, croissants, pains aux raisins…), rum baba
• “Pâtes battues”- génoise, biscuits (Joconde, Boudoir) and cake bases (Dacquoise, Progrès, Succès)
• Cooked doughs “les pâtes cuites”- pâte à choux and meringues
• Baker’s cakes “les gâteaux boulangers”- Custard Pie, madeleines, cannelés…
• Weekly Evaluation
- Aquafaba & Pate A Choux
• Aquafaba- pavlova, cakes with meringues (Dacquoise, Succès, Progrès), Charlotte
• Macarons
• Pâte à choux : Eclairs, Profiteroles, Pièces-montées
• Paris-Brest and Saint-Honoré- classical and contemporary versions
• Chocolate- varieties, uses (sauces, cakes, confectionary)
• Weekly Evaluation

- Top Fine Pastry
• The Great Cakes- Black Forest “Forêt Noir”, Strawberry Shortcake “Fraisier”, Opera
• Chef’s contemporary fine pastry
• International pastry
• Ice cream, sorbet, granita and ice desserts
• Holiday pastries
• Final Examination


Certificate Course in Vegan Cuisine:
Duration: 6 weeks

The goal of this intensive program is to prepare students to quickly enter a professional vegan context.
The program is for students with little or no restaurant or catering experience, contemplating a career in cuisine as well as for professionals with little or no vegan culinary education.

- Introduction to Vegan Gastronomy:
• Ingredients: seasonality, origins, varieties, uses and sourcing
• Ingredients and nutrition for a healthy vegan diet
• Preparation techniques and vocabulary
• Cooking techniques and vocabulary
• Vegan replacements for dairy, fish, meat, egg and honey
• Simple meal preparation and menu planning
• Weekly Evaluation

- The Art of the Start - or "How to open the clients’ appetite"
• Hors d’oeuvres
• Cocktail fare
• Cold and hot sauces, fonds and aspics
• Soups and salads
• Vegetable and mushroom Mastery
• Introduction to nuts, seeds, spices and herbs, beans and grains
• Weekly Evaluation

- The Art of the Main - From classical French to contemporary world cuisine
• Introduction to concept of a vegan main
• Introduction to Seitan, Tofu and Tempeh
• French Cuisine from Paris, Brittany, Normandy, Alsace, Bordeaux, Pays Basque, Provence, Alpes
• European and African cuisine – Nordic, Eastern, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Ethiopian, Moroccan
• Asian and Middle eastern Cuisine – China, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Lebanese
• North and South American cuisine: New England, Southern, South Western, Mexican, Brazilian, Caribbean
• Weekly Evaluation

- The Art of the Main - Contemporary World Cuisine
• European Cuisines from Scandinavia, East Europe, Italy, Spain, Greece
• African and Middle eastern Cuisines from Ethiopia, Morocco, Lebanon, Turkey
• Asian Cuisines from China, Japan, Thailand, India
• North and South American Cuisines from New England, South-East, South-West Mexico, Brazil, the Carribean
• Final Exam