Gluten-Free According to Titouan Claudet
I’m often skeptical of the hype surrounding gluten-free diets. Between medical necessity, lifestyle choice, and a passing fad, the topic has become a slippery slope. However, while talking with Titouan Claudet, pastry chef at the Woodward Geneva, I quickly realized that the real issue at hand isn’t gluten itself, but rather the experience.
Creative Diversity
Why should someone with a gluten intolerance always have to end their meal with just ice cream or a plate of fruit, while others enjoy a Paris-Brest or a perfectly made tart? Behind this seemingly innocuous question lies a consideration that goes far beyond pastries: the idea of allowing everyone to experience the same moment of pleasure.
This idea came about almost naturally. As we served more and more customers, the requests kept coming in. And unlike cooking, where avoiding gluten is relatively easy, pastry-making relies almost entirely on wheat flour. Cookies, pastries, cakes, tarts, or choux pastries: gluten is everywhere. Rather than offering just one or two alternatives for a handful of customers, Titouan Claudet chose to rethink his approach to baking.
“Today, when I imagine a tart or a cake, I immediately think of a gluten-free version.” This single sentence sums up the evolution of her approach. Gluten-free is no longer an adaptation made at the end of the process. It has become the starting point for her creations.
Choux Pastry
At Comptoir du Woodward, a gourmet bakery located in downtown Geneva, this philosophy is now on full display in the shop windows. Paris-Brest, tarts, mosaïques, and other gluten-free creations fit naturally into the lineup, without being relegated to the status of mere alternatives.
Making gluten-free choux pastry or pie crust, however, is no easy feat. These seemingly simple recipes actually require months of trial and error, research, and adjustments. It’s meticulous work where every ingredient, every texture, and every step of the cooking process must be rethought. Ultimately, what interested me most about this encounter went far beyond pastry-making. True modernity may not lie in constantly creating ever more spectacular creations. Sometimes it means no longer treating certain customers as exceptions.
