Pastries and desserts aren't suppose to fill your stomach, or end your hunger. They exist to satisfy our desires, to play with our senses from eyes to tongue, attracting, enticing and seducing us until the last bite. At the same time, they're capable of awakening the faintest memories, bringing back smells, flavors and sensations we thought were lost in the subconscious. The grandma cake, the aroma of freshly baked bread from that old childhood bakery, the dessert from a Christmas past you somehow never ate again. That's a reason we use "sweet" as an adjective for things we cherish and love.
The secret for a good dessert lies in balance, requiring precise measurements of sugar, fat, salt, temperature, sequence, and timing. Achieving the perfect blend of these elements takes years of dedicated study and practice. The lady in the image is the best Pastry Chef I know and, as you can see in the image, she's not taking talent for granted.
As her lucky husband, I've had the privilege of watching her develop many recipes, including the perfect, flawless and unpaired Chocolate Chip Cookie. It took her years of tinkering to ultimate the recipe, but trust me, it's the best cookie you'll ever sink your teeth into.
I know you may be skeptical, thinking you've already tasted the best of all cookies, but I'm telling you: you're utterly and inexorably wrong.
This piece has a special bidder's edition. Every bidder will be airdropped the recipe for the perfect cookie. The winner will also get the recipe for the most traditional Brazilian dessert: Pudim, And if they're in Brazil, she'll also send a batch of cookies.
"Le Pâtissier"
Photography by Victor Ribeiro
3456 × 5184
Rio de Janeiro, 2016
