A Matter of Taste and Tradition: The Culinary Tour to Europe with La Tartine Continues
27.12.2024 | 01:30 |Ten years ago, together with the Ashgabat shopping and entertainment center "Berkarar", the cozy bakery "La Tartine" opened its doors. Over the years, the stylish place on the third floor of the center with a "view" of Paris, enticing visitors to the food court with delicious aromas, has acquired regular customers and loyal fans.
Having started its journey with exquisite French pastries, which became a real discovery for gourmets of the capital, the small establishment gradually expanded its horizons and in 2021 acquired a second franchise, and since then has also been offering guests Italian cuisine, including amazing Roman pizza with a tender, crispy and melt-in-your-mouth gluten-free dough.
Focusing on high professional standards of European cuisine, thorough mastery of the tradition of preparing national dishes from dough, coupled with the subtleties of using modern baking technologies, allowed "La Tartine" to turn into a culinary boutique where tastes are not argued about - they are enjoyed.
And now, in honor of its anniversary, "La Tartine" has presented its fans with a new surprise - a presentation of German "haute couture" pastries, continuing the franchise line from the Cote d'Azur and the Apennine Peninsula to the picturesque valleys of the Rhine.
The geographical and gastronomic fashion show was preceded by a ceremony to welcome invited guests, including representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Ashgabat, employees of international organizations and foreign companies operating in Turkmenistan. The club of connoisseurs of fresh pastries according to traditional recipes of European cuisines turned out to be international and open to live communication over a cup of tea or coffee with a bite of delicious pastries.
But "man does not live by bread alone" - the spiritual delight was the performance of the ensemble of young violinists "Mukam" under the permanent leadership of the People's Artist of Turkmenistan Harold Neimark. Beautiful music, magnificent arrangements of famous pieces, polished performance, the radiance that the girls and boys emitted, the synchronously fluttering bows gave the event a sparkling charm.
Our revered master Harold Isaakovich, who created one of the most famous brands of modern Turkmen culture 45 years ago, generating talented musicians from generation to generation, sat a little further away, among the guests, but an invisible connection was felt between him and the ensemble. Like parents watching their children from the sidelines, who also feel this gaze and try not to make a mistake, to give another reason for pride.
The young musicians unconditionally melted the hearts of the listeners, whose faces lit up with smiles, and above the crowd gathered around, one could see how the waiter of the neighboring, suddenly empty cafeteria, was dancing to the beat of the melody. Spinning in simple waltz movements and balancing a tray, he touched the shiny Christmas tree decorations hanging from above along the way, making them sway in company... The magical power of music!
On this wonderful note, the floor was taken by a representative of the family business "La Tartine", which opened the first European franchise in this segment of the Turkmen market 10 years ago. Shasenem Garlyeva warmly congratulated everyone on the New Year, expressed good wishes, inviting them to share in the celebration of the anniversary.
And although the concept of the Garlyev family business covers not only the bakery, but also other areas, its essence remains unchanged. This is devotion to traditions, high quality products and the desire to give people joy and warmth of the home, constant development and search for new ideas that allow us to create unique products and services that satisfy the most demanding tastes.
We have already talked about one of these areas - the production of goods from camel wool under the brand "Unique Camel Wool". https://orient.tm/ru/post/69894/turkmenskij-proizvoditel-izdelij-iz-verblyuzhej-shersti.
Today, we continued our conversation with the heroine of our previous publication, Dzhennet Garlyeva, and learned about the details of the implementation of the project with the third franchise - German baking. What makes it special? Not only traditional recipes, but also the secrets of cooking, a careful approach to choosing ingredients.
The transition from French and Italian cuisine to German was not as easy as it might seem. Each baking culture has its own unique specifics and subtleties. The chefs of "La Tartine" were faced with the need to master new technologies, find authentic ingredients and, most importantly, preserve that very unique taste that lovers of German baking appreciate so much.
A guest baker from Germany helped with this, sharing his experience with his Turkmen colleagues, fine-tuning special equipment purchased as part of a joint project between Turkmenistan and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) to ideal parameters, revealing secret techniques and teaching such subtleties that you won’t find on the Internet.
And so, at the presentation in “Berkarar”, guests were able to try classic German desserts, including strudel – a pie with a juicy apple filling, as well as the world-famous baumkuchen, which literally translates from German as “wood pie”. Its name is due to the fact that during baking, the dough is applied to a rotating cylinder layer by layer, creating a pattern reminiscent of the annual rings of a tree. This is a very popular German dessert, especially on holidays.
The guests of "La Tartine" also appreciated it. According to the chronology of the establishment, the culinary tour to Europe began in France - golden airy croissants resembled lush clouds toasted by the sunset, eclairs justified their name, which means "lightning", by the fact that these cakes are eaten instantly. Small culinary masterpieces - tartlets - could argue with this.
The next stop was Italy with that same crispy pizza and canapes with a Mediterranean accent. And Germany debuted on the Ashgabat map of fresh baked goods...
So "La Tartine" is not just a bakery, it is a place where different cultures and traditions meet. And the current anniversary is another confirmation that "La Tartine" is always ready to please its guests with new taste discoveries.
ORIENT