For several years, you have been following Agathe's discoveries and gems during her many travels across our beautiful country. Her enchanting tales almost make us forget her primary mission: to find inspiration and unearth new ingredients for recipes, each more delicious than the last. In reality, once she returns from her travels, she gathers her team of apprentices to put them to work, and this is how the magic (or not) happens behind the walls of our small biscuit bakery in Nyon: Gourmet Brainstorming.
Everyone gathers around the large table, coffee and favourite small Swiss biscuit in hand, and the lively hubbub of exchanging ideas, culinary experiences, unusual discoveries, and pleasant surprises begins. As the biscuit bakery is as small as the ideas are numerous, the goal is to focus on one track at a time and explore it in depth.
Culinary Detective Mission The next step takes us into the field, as they say. And dressed in our finest trench coats and magnifying glasses, we go fishing for information. What similar biscuits already exist on the market? What about you, dear Swiss biscuit lovers? Will your taste buds be as excited as our national baking enthusiast when you discover the new product on the shelves?
A Swiss or Vaudois biscuit, or what? If we believe our idea is good, we decide on the positioning of our new product. Will it be Swissness, with at least 80% Swiss ingredients, or Vaud+ - certified from here, with at least 80% purely Vaudois ingredients? Will it be organic? Will it be available in a chalet box for mass distribution or rather in a house box for specialty grocery stores? Will we offer it in individual packaging for cafes and restaurants, hotels, and businesses? And finally, at what price can we sell it to you?
Top secret - research and development workshop Following all these discussions, it's time for practical application! We head to the workshop and find Qamil, his team of apprentices, and our quality expert in the midst of testing sessions. Several recipes are tested to try and find the taste and texture imagined by Agathe. And it's no easy task. Will we use a whole egg or just the white? Will we start with a butter base or rapeseed oil? What types of flours are best suited? Or the chips? Dark chocolate or milk? Or both? That would be incredibly gourmet, wouldn't it?
Election of the best biscuit Once the biscuits are out of the oven, everyone gathers again to - you guessed it - taste the different recipes (yes, we admit, these are days we particularly enjoy our work). Opinions are divided, and the biscuits are ranked in order of preference. The selected recipes will be refined, remade, and retested until perfection is achieved: the moment Agathe nods her head with satisfaction and stars in her eyes!
You don't always win Sometimes, we are forced to admit that our ambition exceeds reality, and we have to abandon further development of an idea. Which is not a big deal, because we will have given it our all before stopping and embarking on the next tasty challenge.
A striking look for tingling taste buds If all the phases so far are conclusive, we now move on to packaging creation. Our talented artistic director - Sara - will propose the most beautiful way to present this new delicacy on the packaging, taking into account the adventure that led Agathe to this biscuit, as well as the key ingredient of the recipe. Technical information will be added, such as weight, nutritional values, allergen risks, and ingredients. Did you know, by the way, that the order of listed ingredients corresponds to the quantities used in decreasing order during production? The longer the list, the more likely you are to find additives and other artificial preservatives. At Agathe, we have chosen to completely do without them.
The height of tension Once all these steps are validated by all the apprentices, we launch the first production cycle and present the recipe to the public. What suspense, you can't imagine! Soon, you will be able to discover this new biscuit that we have spent months creating with enthusiasm and a love for good, natural ingredients!
Thank you! We are always so happy and grateful to receive your feedback and comments on our recipes. No matter if they are positive or negative, don't give up, because if this beautiful adventure has lasted for years, it is also thanks to you, dear young and old gourmands!
