A sweet summer night

AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

It was a sweet summer evening in Paris. The event was even sweeter. The annual La Liste Pastry Special Awards summer party was held in the gardens of the historic Les Invalides. The party was definitely the place to be for those with a sweet tooth; not just to taste the exquisite flavors, but also to mingle with the greatest chefs in the industry. Thirty-six awards were presented across 18 countries in 12 categories, celebrating global champions who seamlessly unite innovative modern techniques with traditional artisanal flavors.

La Liste, a restaurant rating system referred to as “the list of lists,” dedicates its annual summer event to the pastry and bakery community, bringing together both the dedicated artisanal masters and innovative creators from around the world. There was also a forum held in parallel with the awards ceremony and party, focusing on new pastry trends and the future of the world of sweets. In parallel to the forum discussions, a thorough study titled “Global Pastry and Bakery Trends Report” was also conducted to serve as the foundation for the forum. Prepared to serve as a guide for those working in the sector, the report offers insights into what lies ahead in this world of sweets in the coming years.

Traditional versus innovation?

Is globalization undermining tradition? This is one concern underlined in the trend report. The title itself offered a clue: The Great Gastronomic Paradox: Borderless Pastry, Rooted Bread. There lies a double paradox beneath this title. First, there is the paradox of bakeries and patisseries. The deep-rooted artisanal bakery culture has its foundation in local grains, stone-milled flour, sourdough fermentation and, of course, the age-old wisdom and artisanal knowledge of breadmaking. It celebrates localism and terroir.

Whereas the pastry trends seem to spread beyond borders, influencing pastry chefs across the globe, regardless of geography. A pastry chef in Seoul can perform French pâtisserie techniques faultlessly with an Asian flavor twist. This is how French-Asian symbiosis is created. While cross-cultural influences can fuel creativity, there lies another paradox between mastery of the past and innovation of the future. The report calls this the “Hollywoodization” of pastry. In a globalized world, the pastry and baking industry constantly seeks innovation. New trends emerge every day, and the industry is always on the hunt for something new. Driven by globalization and social media, a new trend takes center stage every other day. Classic flavors are being reimagined. The classic croissant is being reshaped into cubes or flattened, cheesecake takes on a thousand new flavors, and even traditional cookies are reformed with new taste combinations.

Creativity driven by chefs or by platforms?

The question is whether the era of conceptual innovation driven by chefs from 1990 to 2015 is over. From 2015 to the present, it seems that we are in an era of archetype optimization, with creativity increasingly shaped by social media platforms. These days, it is the visibility and reproducibility that rule. This phenomenon is best described in the report as such: less genuine invention, more optimization of proven, collective cultural archetypes. Interpretations of proven classics made in the name of creativity often remain superficial and ostentatious. In a sense, well-established classics lose their former excellence and become ordinary. Hence, globalization rewards standardization.

Middle Eastern flavors on the rise

The La Liste trend report also foresees flavors set to dominate globally. Another growing trend has been identified as Middle Eastern flavors. Especially following the Dubai chocolate craze, interest in ingredients like crispy kadayıf and pistachios has grown, sparking a general shift toward these flavors. The pistachio frenzy seems to be here to stay. Once an alternative additional flavor, the pistachio became a mainstay ingredient in the pâtisserie kitchens. Among others, ingredients such as orange blossom essence, tahini and sumac have also moved beyond their local origins and entered the global arena. Previously, Asian flavors such as matcha and yuzu had been trendy; now they have become indispensable ingredients. As a country, we are at the perfect moment to closely follow these trends and open up a whole new world of opportunities for our local ingredients to take the global stage — not only as novel flavors, but also by introducing the traditional ways they are used in our sweets and confections.

Lessons to take

There are lessons to be learned from the La Liste report, as several trends directly concern us. One trend regarding venues particularly caught my attention: The rise of hybrid spaces offering all-day service, alongside specialty dessert shops, bakeries, or pastry shops focusing on a single product. In reality, we’ve already pioneered this concept. Our traditional “muhallebicisi” (Turkish pudding shops) are our day-long sanctuaries, coming to our rescue from morning breakfast to evening soup.

Unfortunately, no pastry chefs, bakers, or confectioners from Türkiye were among the award winners, and no pastry chef or sweet master from Türkiye was in attendance at the party. It is crucial that we at least make our presence felt in the field of traditional desserts at such globally watched events. However, it is still possible to catch a glimpse of inspiration for the future during this sweet summer evening. It would be beneficial to study carefully the report to help position our own rich dessert culture on the global stage. After all, we have mastered the art of baklava-making in the court kitchens in Istanbul, the ultimate sweet that carries the accumulated artisanal culture of many years and many cultures of the Ottoman Empire. Shared by our neighboring countries, both in the Balkans and the Middle East, baklava might as well be influential in the global dessert scene. Sweet hopes, let’s say!