Travel Notecards: A workshop with Carla Coulson and French pastries at Mulots

Saturday, 15 December 2012

A workshop with Carla Coulson and French pastries at Mulots

Two recent events got me thinking about how much photography has enriched my life.

Through this passion of mine I have met people I would not ordinarily have met, i have crossed thresholds that in the past I may not have thought of walking through, and it has given me windows of opportunity that years ago I would never have imagined coming my way.

Here are two recent events that have been so enriching and inspiring.

A workshop; Carla Coulson's'Get Published'

Last weekend I participated in Carla Coulson's 'Get Published Workshop' in Sydney. It was an extraordinary day in many ways.

Carla, is an Australian Paris based photographer, whose knowledge of the photographic and publishing world is immense, as is her generosity in imparting her 'know how'. We were spellbound. The depth of information that we gained from Carla herself, Sharon Misko, Creative Director of Inside Out, and Bryce Corbett, author and deputy Editor of The Australian Woman's Weekly magazine was mind blowing. We truly were 30 very fortunate photographers, getting an in depth inside look into the world of publishing, as well as gaining an understanding of how we can go about breaking into it, and succeeding in it as writers and photographers.

It was not only the knowledge and information that we gained that made the day so extraordinary. There was a spirit of friendship and support that filled the room, and there is no one more supportive of young and or new photographers than Carla; a heartfelt and personal thank you from me to Carla.

As well as being a huge learning experience the workshop also presented an opportunity for 30 of us budding 'to be published' writers / photographers to meet, chat, and, hopefully in the future support and encourage each other in reaching our goals and realising our dreams. Post workshop; Carla has even gone a step further and set up our own 'Get Published Workshop' facebook page to facilitate our networking, and I look forward to staying in touch with all the wonderful people I met that day as well as the others I did not have the opportunity to meet personally.

Here's to many more Carla Couson workshops.

A Pastry Kitchen, Mulots

André working the pastry for the croissants, pain au chocolat and pain au raison.

Another fantastic and recent meeting also came about because of my love for taking photographs and eating!

When I am in Australia I always miss France's divine pastries. So I headed to the gorgeous authentic French patisserie Mulots in Hyde Park, Adelaide to ask the French owners André and Annette Guerinet if I could possibly spend some time with them in their kitchen. I wanted to take photographs and get an idea of how their to die for creations are made.

They could not have been more welcoming, and happily allowed me to join them the very next morning. I was spellbound once again. The organisation just like the workshop, was a mixture of precision, passion and incredible expertise.

I was like a child in a lolly shop. I spent four wonderful hours watching, shooting, and chatting and it felt like 2 minutes.

Croissants

Pain au Chocolat

Pain au Raison

Left, checking their weight before flattening with the palm of the hand. Right, Gaby the new apprentice enjoying her first week in the kitchen at Mulots, lucky girl.!

Apricot Tart

Copyright Millie Brown 20012

André's two rolling pins, (both made in France from a special type of hardwood). The one on the left is 28 years old and came all the way from France with him all those years ago. You can even feel the groove where his hand rests. The one on the right is clearly younger and hasn't quite done the same mileage as the older one!

...lemon & raspberry tarts

Mulots is a family favourite of ours, fortunately for us it is just around the corner, and there is no where else we would contemplate ordering our croissants (all 22 of them for Christmas morning).

And when it comes to a Quiche, I can assure you it would be very difficult to find better anywhere in the world.

André and Annette are masters at their craft. To watch them at work is a pleasure, and I thank them both for allowing me into their very delicious world for a morning.

I'm happy also to report that I am not the only person lucky enough to be able to step foot in their kitchen; Mulots has half day courses available throughout the year for both the general public and professionals.

For details and dates on the courses click here.

Ever grateful for my interesting and wonderful life.

Millie x

Mulots Patisserie

143a King William Road

Hyde Park

08 8272 6499

2 comments:

lisa | renovating italy17 December 2012 at 07:21
what a fabulous Christmas tradition fresh croissants yum, each one baked with love. My husband once spent a day with our neighbors in italy learning to make the bread and he was fascinated.

The workshop with Carla was fantastic and I am already putting it into practice, meeting such a great group of friends was priceless!
and of course meeting you, ciao lisa x
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