Today, We are taking you to the oldest pastry shop in Paris: the Stohrer pastry shop, rue Montorgueil, in the 2nd arrondissement. A place that is part of history, therefore, but also a true ode to gluttony that begins in the window …
It began with Nicolas Stohrer
The history of this Parisian pastry shop begins with a man, Nicolas Stohrer. He learned pastry making in his small town of Alsace, Wissembourg, and worked in the service of King Stanislas I of Poland. The King was indeed driven from the throne and went into exile on lands belonging to the King of France where he leads a modest and monotonous existence.
A traditional Polish pastry
One day, the King brought back from a trip a dry brioche, a traditional Polish pastry. Stohrer then had the idea of soaking it in a sweet wine (Malaga wine) and adding custard and grapes to it. The pastry becomes known as “baba“. Some claim that it was the King himself who baptized it so, in reference to the hero of the Thousand and One Nights Ali Baba, whose adventures he was reading at the time. Others claim that the name comes from the Polish “baba”, which means “granny”. Moreover, at the time, the word did not agree and we wrote “baba”. There is no question of rum yet, the baba is alternately flavored with saffron, orange blossom or candied citrus.
In 1725, King Louis XV proposed to marriage Stanislas’ daughter, Marie Leszczyńska… and Nicolas Stohrer followed her to Versailles. The queen’s pastry chef decided a few years later, in 1730, to open his own shop in rue Montorgueil. Stohrer pastry today The current Stohrer pastry shop no longer looks like the one of the time, but its 19th century decor is particularly beautiful and has been partly classified as a Historic Monument. Sign of the Stohrer pastry shop in Paris Floor of the Stohrer pastry shop rue Montorgueil The pastry shop continues to sell rum babas today. Rum was introduced into the recipe by a descendant of Nicolas Stohrer in 1835.
Rue Montorgueil,
75002 Paris
