As travelers came and went, word of this tart spread throughout France, reaching Paris and all of its culinary majesty. The story goes that Louis Vaudable, the owner of Maxim’s took one bite and was smitten. Some even go so far to say he sent a spy to the hotel to watch Stéphanie create this tart of near-mythical proportions. In reality, Mr. Vaudable was born in 1902 and the sisters stepped away from the hotel in 1906. But why let truth get in the way of a good story?
The sisters never actually called it a Tarte Tatin, instead referring to it as a Tarte Solognote in deference to the river that defined the town. It was food writer Curnonsky, known as the Prince of Gastronomy, who tapped it Tatin. And Maxim’s did pay tribute to the dessert, putting it on its menu as “La Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin (the tart of two unmarried women named Tatin).”
The hotel, now run by the Caillé family since 1968, continues to serve Tarte Tatin. And on any given day there’s no shortage of pilgrims following their sugar addiction to tiny Lamotte-Beuvron for a bite at the source.
[…] Bake from Scratch, describes the tarte tatin like this, “It’s modest in its simplicity. Yet, when eaten warm from the oven, this elegantly rustic dessert becomes deeply personal—a mouth epiphany.” […]
[…] made a traditional French dessert, tarte tatin. Legend has it that tarte tatin was a happy coincidence. The Tatin sisters together run the Hotel Tatin, and the […]