THE BAKER'S DOZEN - INTERVIEW WITH BRITISH PATAGONIA
We sit down with Matias Barbat, owner of British Patagonia in Islington, who created three original bakes inspired by Penhaligon's scents.
With the opening of Penhaligon's Bakery (that's the festive gift shop, don't you know), we've turned our noses and stomachs towards London's impressive pool of baking talent to create recipes inspired by our very own scents. North London-based vegan bakery British Patagonia kindly agreed to create three recipes inspired by some of our favourite scents. Matias Barbat, Michelin-star chef and owner of the bakery, sat down with us to talk about the process.
Tell us a little about yourself and British Patagonia.
I was born and bred in Patagonia, growing up between Bariloche and Cipolletti. Since my early days, I always liked cooking with my grandma and eventually I turned this into a career. After working for six years in Michelin-star restaurants, I decided to open British Patagonia, which embodies the spirit of where I’m from.
What inspired you to become a baker?
Opening my own bakery, British Patagonia, was the inspiration. Even before I started my professional career as a pastry chef in London, I knew I wanted to open a bakery. Since then, I always imagined what I wanted to create and what it would look like. And, many years later, the opportunity to make it a reality arose so I jumped from being a full-time pastry chef to a full-time baker and entrepreneur!
Talk us through an average day at the bakery.
Usually we all start at 7:00 h, but sometimes I go in a little earlier. We'll start with pastries first so they're ready for the 8:00 h open time. After that, we focus on preparing anything we need for the next day – luckily, we can prepare everything one day ahead. Just before midday, we make everything for lunch service ahead of the lunchtime rush.
You specialise in vegan bakes. What challenges did you have creating vegan pastries?
To begin with, it was difficult as the pastries we made didn't have the taste or texture of regular pastries. It was after a lot of trial and error and trying new ways of laminating the dough that we got closer to an 'authentic' pastry. We kept tweaking with ingredients and quantities to reach the desired effect and after a year of this, we finally got there! We serve great, freshly baked vegan products and our customers can't really tell the difference between a regular all-butter croissant or one of our vegan pastries.
Which was your favourite Penhaligon's bake to work on?
My favourite was the Luna Panettone. It was a challenge to get the flavours and textures right, especially working with an ingredient like pine. A regular panettone is already hard enough to get right, but this one was a bit of a fun challenge to do.
What would you recommend for someone’s first time at British Patagonia?
For someone’s first time at British Patagonia, I'd recommend to go for the classics such as a cinnamon bun, croissant or pain au chocolat.
What’s your favourite smell in a bakery?
I really like the mornings at British Patagonia with the smell of freshly baked bread and cinnamon buns in the air. It creates such a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere.
When it comes to Christmas, what is your go-to treat?
Mince pies or a good custard tart are definitely my go to treat for Christmas.
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