Christine Ferber Explained

Christine Ferber
Birth Date:11 May 1960
Birth Place:Colmar, Alsace, France
Nationality:French
Occupation:Pastry chef and chocolatier
Years Active:1978 onward
Known For:Co-owner of La Maison Ferber

Christine Ferber (born 11 May 1960[1]) is a French pastry chef and chocolatier, who co-owns La Maison Ferber in Niedermorschwihr, Alsace region of France. She sells over 200,000 jars of jam a year across the world.

Personal life

Ferber was born in Colmar, France,[2] a medieval town five miles (8 km) apart from her village Niedermorschwihr.[3] Her great-grandfather moved to Alsace from Germany in 1870.[4] Her great-grandfather, grandfather and father all worked as pastry chefs.[5] Her father Maurice opened La Maison Ferber in 1959,[6] in a seventeenth century traditional French building called Au relais de Trois Épis (At the post house of the Three Ears). Ferber speaks French, Alsatian, German and English.[7] Ferber's mother died in March 2020.[8]

Career

Aged 15, Ferber moved to Brussels in order to complete a three-year apprenticeship as a confectioner and chocolatière.[9] Afterwards she spent a year in Paris to study with the renowned French pastry chef Lucien Peltier.[10] Peltier was considered one of the most creative pastry chefs of his generation in the 1980s, his work inspired by the nouvelle cuisine was a reference for all professionals.[11]

In 1979, she won the French Cup for patissiers.[12] She moved back to Alsace in 1980, where she started her own workshop. She initially made jams, selling them in her parents' shop[13] despite the resistance of her mother. In 1998, Ferber was voted Patissier of the Year by the .[14] [15] In 2005, she produced a cookbook Alice's Little Kitchen in Wonderland, in reference to Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The images for the book were intended to imitate Salvador Dalí style paintings. Ferber took joint ownership of La Maison Ferber with her brother Bruno and sister Betty, after the death of their father in 2011. In 2015/16, she had a larger workshop and storehouse built.[16] In 2018, the building was awarded the Prix AMO architecture prize in the category "lieu le mieux productif" (most productive place).[17]

Ferber makes over 200 varieties of jam, with traditional, regional, and original varieties. Examples of Ferber's unique flavours include celery and pineapple with rosemary. She also makes pies, stollens, beraweka, gingerbreads, and kougelhopfs. Around 35% of her revenue is from jams, and about 35% is from pastries. Ferber is nicknamed the Jam Fairy. She is also nicknamed Reine Christine by local Alsatians and honoured as the Queen of Jam around the world.[18] Ferber sells 200,000 jars of jam per year, and all over the world, in countries including Spain, Germany, Japan, and Singapore.[19] In Tokyo, her jam jars are sold in Isetan department stores, and are wrapped in red cloth and with a white bow. Fellow French pastry chef and chocolatier Pierre Hermé has said that Ferber "sells the best jams in the world",[20] and he sells Ferber's jams in his shop in Paris. Her jam is also bought by chef Alain Ducasse, the three Michelin star La Maison Troisgros restaurant, as well as Hôtel de Crillon and Four Seasons Hotel George V, and The Connaught in London.[21]

Ferber has also taught in France, Italy, Japan and the US. She has taught at the French Pastry School in Chicago, US.[22] In 2013, British newspaper the Daily Mirror reported that Brad Pitt had become obsessed with Ferber's jams, and had flown to Alsace to meet her.[23] [24] [25] However, Ferber claimed that she had never seen Pitt in her shop. In 2020, Ferber hosted Luxembourgish chef Léa Linster at La Maison Ferber.[26]

Honours

In January 2018, Ferber was awarded a Chevalier (Knight of the Legion of Honour.[27]

Works

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://dirigeants.bfmtv.com/Christine-FERBER-5164875/ "Christine Ferber."
  2. Les 100 personnalités qui vont faire l'année 2021: Christine Ferber. In: foodswho.atabula.com, January 2021.
  3. News: Christine Ferber, un conte de Noël sucré pâtissier. fr. Bourdeau. Thomas. Radio France Internationale. 22 December 2017. 16 March 2019.
  4. Web site: Queen Christine's jams. https://web.archive.org/web/20021005220203/http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr/jsp/mag200109/art/html/rep_ferber_gb.jsp. 5 October 2002. Tresmontant. Emmanuel. ViaMichelin. September 2001. 16 March 2019.
  5. Web site: Les Confitures de la Reine Christine. https://web.archive.org/web/20150405083229/http://www.pic-inter.com/pic/291/les-confitures-de-la-reine-christine.aspx. fr. PICInter.com. March–April 2005. 5 April 2015. 16 March 2019.
  6. News: From Alsace, Sweet Love for the World. Oliviennes. Hannah. The New York Times. 23 April 2013. 16 March 2019.
  7. News: The two women who took the road trip of a lifetime to meet Brad Pitt's jam-maker. Mosalski. Ruth . Wales Online. 23 April 2016. 29 March 2019.
  8. News: Le confinement vu par Christine Ferber, la fée des confitures: "Je voulais l'accompagner, caresser sa main, impossible". fr. France 3. Munsch. Catherine. 14 April 2020. 17 April 2020.
  9. News: Les confitures de la reine Christine Ferber. fr. Lutaud. Léna. Le Figaro. 20 September 2013. 16 March 2019.
  10. Web site: Lutaud . Léna. 20 September 2013. Pour les becs sucrés, le soleil se lève à l'est. Le Figaro. fr. "Dans les années 1980, Christine Ferber et bien d'autres passent chez Lucien Peltier, un pâtissier parisien aujourd'hui décédé" ("In the 1980s, Christine Ferber and many others visited Lucien Peltier, a Parisian pastry chef who is now deceased.").
  11. La touche Conticini chez Peltier. Le Chef, le magazine des Chefs de cuisine. https://web.archive.org/web/20050301164811/http://www.lechef.com/info/lechef.html?num=141 . 1 March 2005. May 2002.
  12. News: Les bonnes recettes de Christine Ferber pour réussir. fr. Amrhein. Alexandre. L'Express. 29 July 2009. 16 March 2019.
  13. News: Früchte des Ruhms. de. Klotz. Franziska. Die Welt. 10 November 2002. 16 March 2019.
  14. Web site: Fruchtbare Arbeit. https://web.archive.org/web/20020814020852/http://www.vincent-becker.de/ferber.htm. 14 August 2002. de. Dollase. Jürgen. Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. 12 May 2002. 60. 16 March 2019.
  15. News: Wie schmeckt Humpty Dumpty?. de. Winkenbach. Julia. Die Welt. 11 September 2005. 16 March 2019.
  16. News: En Alsace, le spleen de "Dame Tartine". Davet. Stéphane. Le Monde. 2 April 2020. 17 April 2020.
  17. Photos: "Maison Ferber" [''Atelier'']. In: AEA architectes.
    Video: "Maison Ferber." In: AEA architectes, February 2019, 2:19 min., retrieved 3 June 2021.
  18. Web site: Chicago Welcomes the Queen of Jam . https://web.archive.org/web/20190227060810/http://www.frenchpastryschool.com/blog/chicago-welcomes-queen-jam . Koriath . Lindsay . . 1 August 2008 . 27 February 2019 . 6 June 2021.
  19. News: More gourmet grocers in Singapore selling premium produce, artisanal food. The Straits Times. 10 April 2016. 16 March 2019.
  20. News: Christine Ferber, créatrice haute confiture. fr. Davet. Stéphane. Le Monde. 25 December 2017. 16 March 2019.
  21. News: Brad Pitt mystery for jam-maker. The Connexion. 14 May 2013. 29 March 2019.
  22. Web site: Jams, Jellies, Marmalades and Sweet and Sour Chutneys . https://web.archive.org/web/20111220175028/http://frenchpastryschool.com/guest_chef_classes/2008_07_ferber.html. French Pastry School. 2008. 20 December 2011. 16 March 2019.
  23. News: Moodie . Clemmie . Spread Pitt: Brad Pitt's bizarre obsession with posh French jam . 26 March 2019 . . 13 May 2013.
  24. News: Brad Pitt, les confitures alsaciennes et la rumeur. fr. L'Alsace-Le Pays. 30 March 2013. 16 March 2019.
  25. News: Brad Pitt obsessed with French jam. Hindustan Times. 14 May 2013. 16 March 2019.
  26. News: La Maison Ferber accueille l'étoilée Léa Linster. fr. Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace. 29 October 2020. 26 November 2020.
  27. News: Daniel Cordier, Véronique Colucci ou Christine Ferber : la promotion du 1er janvier 2018 de la Légion d'honneur. fr. Le Figaro. 31 December 2017. 16 March 2019.

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