When chocolatier Paul A. Young shows us his basement kitchen in Camden Passage, it’s hard to imagine that every piece of chocolate ever made for the shop upstairs, and the branch at the Royal Exchange (millions, no doubt) has come out of this tiny
When chocolatier Paul A. Young shows us his basement kitchen in Camden Passage, it’s hard to imagine that every piece of chocolate ever made for the shop upstairs, and the branch at the Royal Exchange (millions, no doubt) has come out of this tiny room. “We’re working at full capacity,” he explains, “but you don't need a massive space when you're making things fresh. What’s made today will get used today.”
Young’s approach to his craft is an object lesson in quality. For five years now (they celebrated their anniversary the day before our visit), he and his staff have been making some of the best chocolate in the world. Completely natural, with no additives or preservatives, and handmade at every step (even the laborious tempering is done by hand), the difference between this and other fine chocolates – to say nothing of mass-produced confectionery – is immediately clear. And it’s profound. “We're pure here,” says Young, “nobody else is doing this in London.”
Since launching in Islington, Young, who previously worked as head pâtissier for Marco Pierre White, has developed a reputation not only for his high standards, but for his exceptional, and constantly changing taste combinations. “They just come out of my overactive mind,” he says of flavours including fennel and Chinese stem ginger, or sea salted pink peppercorn truffle. “I get inspired by seasonal ingredients, while other ideas come out of nowhere.” For Easter they’ve created eggs of all sizes, as well as hampers, egg hunt kits, deep shimmering gold bunnies, brightly coloured hens (we love the look of these) and 100 exclusive signature eggs per shop, each hand-decorated with an individual design by Young. And while our visit was to investigate their distinctive Easter fare, we couldn’t help but be distracted by the lemon thyme caramel, the blood orange ganache and, especially, the Goat’s cheese, lemon and rosemary chocolate – which, quite honestly, brought tears to our eyes.
Over at St. JOHN, head baker Justin Piers Gellatly – working out of their new Bakery under the Druid street arches in Bermondsey – gave us the skinny on how to make soft and spicy hot cross buns. “We make our dough in two parts,” he explains. “First we create a liquidy dough which we ferment to improve the flavour, and we finish it off about seven hours later with more flour, butter, and eggs. Then we mix that until it’s firm, adding raisins macerated in rum, orange juice, candied stem ginger and syrup from the stem ginger." Once they're out of the oven, they're coated with a syrup glaze that gets them glistening. The recipe is exclusive to St. JOHN, and yes, it’s as good as it sounds. Hot cross buns will be available at their restaurants in Clerkenwell and Spitalfields until Easter Sunday. The Bakery in Bermondsey is open to the public on Saturdays only. We recommend you get there early (and try the doughnuts too).
Ananda and Neil visited St. JOHN Bakery on Saturday, 16 April at 8:30am, and Paul A. Young at 10am on the same day. They then fell into a sugary reverie that lasted the whole day.
Text by Ananda Pellerin
Ananda Pellerin is a London-based writer and the Editor of Wheel Me Out. Neil Wissink is a visual artist also based in London.
