Putting aside issues of food, I want to say that this was the most international thing which was dubbed 'international' which I have ever been to. Excepting micro countries (and you would think the Pope would have more interest in the marketing of the body of Christ...) and Cuba (if the US treasury department doesn't recognize a county, I don't see why I should.) I saw representatives from literally every country I could think of. All the nations of Europe and the Americas were easily represented. Lots of folks from Africa and the Middle East. All the Stans were there. Even lots of island nations. It was crazy. Trying to strike up a conversation was a big game of linguistic roulette, but possible nonetheless.
So, if this big show is any indicator of where the world is going with bread, the answer comes in two f's: franchising and future-tastic. I'll cover the future here, and franchising in an upcoming look at bakeries of Paris more generally
The future seemed to come in many forms. As demonstrated in the below video, there were robots. This video doesn't quite do it justice, and my amazement was likely increased by the fact that I have been moving trays of dough which are 60lbs+ all day long for the past month, but this was cool nonetheless. These robots were able to sense where the tray racks had been moved to, which trays were empty and full, manipulate dough in minor ways, and load trays directly into and out of the ovens. Though not financially viable on a small scale, with the resources and a number of other creations strung together it would be quite possible to have an artisan bakery... of machines!
The other part of the future featured was the concept of flavoring. There were several companies which work on flavoring in attendance at the show - but the biggest was a company called Philibert Savours. They all provide services which will allow you to flavor your products (surprisingly) using natural flavors through complex techniques of infusions. Infusion is big these days, and not just for teas. Now anything you eat suddenly has the possibility of tasting like something else that you aren't quite eating. Huzzah..?
In the end, the whole thing reinforced my strong held feeling that I will never understand why people are so obsessed with trying to make food look like other foods (lots of breads shaped like animals, buildings, etc), that rises in food prices are only making the sharks in the water more excited, and that I hope I never have to attend conferences like this for business rather than wide-eyed, gawking pleasure. Other than that, it was a beautiful experience.
2 comments:
Question: what is the second machine supposed to be doing in the video? Counting? Poking? I can't tell. Please enlighten!
I don't know what the little machine does. It had two little fingers which seemed to be opening and closing as it pretended to push the imaginary dough on this tray. Perhaps not the most delicate worker, but an interesting idea. I think the interesting thing is that this could take dough from the tray and put it into other machines which do the more delicate work, then place it back on the tray. Using smart cameras, the machines were able to place and organize things they were working with.
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