A sweet way to discover French culture
Welcome to les ateliers de Natalène website!
At Les ateliers de Natalène, we provide expatriates living in the Paris area with the opportunity to discover French culture while learning about how to make French pastries. The small groups are an ideal place to share experiences and ideas about living in France.
The French pastry workshops are limited to a maximum of eight people in order to encourage conversation.
You will learn new recipes while discussing different subjects related to French cookery, but also French culture in general.
The baking classes last around two and a half hours and are followed by a time for tasting the baked pastries with tea or coffee.
The cookery workshops take place on rue de Clery (Métro Sentier) which is less than five minutes’ walk from the historic street rue Montorgueil that was once Paris’s great wholesale marketplace.
Each month there is a new program depending on the season of the year and the cultural events taking place at the time, with varying levels of difficulty.
If you would like to impress your family and friends with delicious French pastries, join a cookery session while enjoying spending some time in a friendly welcoming atmosphere. Don’t hesitate to contact us to find out more about our workshops!
During the last 20 years, I have lived in several countries in Asia and North America. Living abroad is such a fantastic experience but it can also be quite challenging. This is something I have experienced in the past, especially in Japan. In fact, when I arrived in Tokyo I could hardly speak Japanese but I took part in cultural exchange classes. Thanks to these exchanges, I was able to learn a lot about the Japanese culture, food and customs. This is also how I made some wonderful Japanese friends. Such happy memories!
Back in France, working as a relocation consultant, I was in touch with expatriate families from various countries and I realized how difficult it could be for those families to settle in France.
This is how I came to set up “Les ateliers de Natalène”. I want to use my experience of being an expat myself, to share my knowledge about my country and its culture and help you enjoy your time in France. And a “sweet” way to discover French culture is to do it through learning how to make French pastries, one of my passions.
This passion for baking was born in my grandmother’s kitchen. I can still remember the exquisite smell of her special cake and how happy I was to share those “delicious” moments with her. Later on, I earned a degree in chemistry and more recently a CAP Pâtisserie (pastry chef diploma). French pâtisserie is unique and offers a wide range of recipes depending on the season of the year, the region of France, and even family traditions. French pâtisserie desserts are also important because they are the final flavor and “finishing touch” of a traditional French meal. But what I love most about French patisserie cooking (and eating!) is that it is a special moment that can be shared and that can bring pleasure and happiness to others.
I hope to see you soon!
Let’s share a part of French culture together!
Choux pastry forms the basis of a multitude of recipes including choux à la crème (chantilly-filled puff pastries), chouquettes (sugar-coated puff pastries), éclairs au chocolat/café, religieuses, Paris-Brest, la tropézienne.
Choux à la crème
Chouquettes
For teatime, “le goûter” in French, there are, for example, madeleines, financiers, various cakes (different flavors such as vanilla, lemon or chocolate) and meringues.
Vanilla cake
Madeleines
Lemon meringue pie, and when spring comes, strawberry or raspberry tart, and fruit charlottes.
Strawberry/raspberry tart
Fruit Charlotte
The traditional Christmas dessert is the “bûche de Noël”, a log-shaped creamy cake that can be made in different flavors, the “galette des rois” in January which is a flaky puff pastry filled with frangipane (almond cream) and contains a surprise “fève” (tiny figurine).
Buche de Noël
Galette des rois
Mille-feuilles, Royal chocolat, Kouign-amman (regional specialty from Brittany), Saint-Honoré.
Mille-feuilles
Kouign-amman
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