Mathieu Kergoulay, chef at the helm of the restaurant at the Château de Boisgelin, creates his own unique cuisine as the inspiration takes him.
The Coco de Paimpol as a dessert? Yes, it’s possible. Mathieu Kergoulay, chef of the restaurant at the Château de Boisgelin in Pléhédel, reveals his recipe for a Coco de Paimpol dessert. A delight for your tastebuds!
We normally think of the Coco de Paimpol as being prepared with tomatoes, charcuterie, fish or shellfish, or to accompany a fine meat dish. However Mathieu Kergoulay has taken a less traditional route to prepare an iconic regional product whose renown has spread far beyond Brittany. “I don’t revisit anything; rather, I interpret the cuisine in my own fashion,” he emphasises. It’s why the chef of the hotel-restaurant at the Château de Boisgelin has decided to come up with an unusual marriage of flavours - a dessert combining a Coco de Paimpol-vanilla mousse, strawberry-basil confit and a lime-flavoured shortbread biscuit. A dish to tantalise your tastebuds!
Local and seasonal products
But before he starts cooking, an obligatory visit to the Tuesday morning market in Paimpol. The chef is a regular, and the growers from the Kersa farm at Ploubazlanec are already expecting him. “No need to go looking for what we have next door,” smiles Mathieu, who cooks every day with seasonal products from local producers. With several kilos of Cocos under his arm, his punnets of strawberries and his basil, the chef heads for the kitchen.
Gluten- and lactose-free cuisine
To begin, a quick rundown of the recipe, invented, tested and approved the previous day. Mathieu Kergoulay has been chef here at Boisgelin for four years now, and was previously chef at the Michelin-starred Manoir de Lan Kerellec in Trébeurden. Having intolerances and allergies himself, he is pleased to offer healthy, gluten- and lactose-free cuisine every day.
An international showcase
The chef gets busy making a Coco and vanilla-scented mousse. In the saucepan, the white Coco beans are mixed with agave syrup, vanilla pods and a little lemon thyme. The mixture comes to a simmer, and starts to perfume the kitchen. At the same time, Mathieu makes a crisp shortbread biscuit (it’s almost Breton, but without the butter), then a Mariguette strawberry confit.
Beautiful and delicious too
And now it’s time to make the mousse using the sweetened Coco beans, with Coconut oil as a replacement for butter as it crystallises and helps the mixture to set. One important point: don’t forget to taste after every stage, as “a cook who doesn’t taste can’t be a good cook”. The creamy vegetable mixture is then put into a syphon and all the elements come together for the presentation. This is when the chef’s creativity comes to the fore, combining the Cocos, a strawberry tartare, shortbread biscuit and the cream. Even if it’s impossible to rival the beauty of the chef’s dish, by following the recipe to the letter any budding chef can create a pretty (and delicious!) presentation. With a lovely texture, the flavour of the Coco is evident, enhanced by the acidity of the strawberry. “You see, it’s possible to create exceptional dishes without lactose and gluten, and using the Coco de Paimpol!” concludes Mathieu Kergourlay, with a smile.
(© Text by: Aglaé Kupferlé - Publihebdos)