Romain Dufour knew from an early age that he wanted to be a baker. He was inspired by his uncle who owned his own bakery in a small town near Bourges, France and Romain worked as an apprentice there for two years. Romain attended the Ecole de Boulangerie et de Patisserie de Paris, earning two diplomas in four years. For his second diploma, Romain was hired at the renowned Plaza Athenée Hotel in Paris, under the direction of Christophe Michalak, World Champion of Pastry. In 2016, Romain arrived in Chicago with a new position as the R&D Master Baker for Eurogerm KB, a French-American company specializing in dough conditioners, bread mixes and pastry mixes. In this role, he brings together his high-end baker training, extensive production experience and innate creativity to develop new, clean label recipes for an impressive list of notable clients within the dynamic food industry.

In this episode we discuss:

• Romain's introduction to baking: trial by fire
• Baking at the Plaza Athenee in Paris under Christophe Michalak
• A challenge at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai
• The differences among dough conditioners
• What a clean label means in terms of Eurogerm dough conditioners
• What a typical day is like for Romain
• Romain's top tips on making the perfect flakey croissant
• And much more!

Sponsored by Taste Europe, Butter of France

French butter is churned longer to achieve 82% butter fat making it richer and creamier with a golden hue. For tips, tricks and recipes on how to use French Butter to romance the flavor of any cuisine visit www.tasteeurope.com.