麵包魔法師 BREAKING BREAD
身負三代傳承烘培絕技的Johann Willar，為永利和萬利拉斯維加斯帶來美味紛呈的麵包。
Johann Willar fills the bread baskets at Wynn and Encore with three generations of baking techniques.
博物學家John Muir曾經說過：「我的生命中只需要麵包、水和令身心愉快的辛勞。」這句話在永利的烘焙總廚Johann Willar看來，可謂感同身受。 Willar在法國北部的Armentières長大，父親在當地擁有兩家麵包店，家族三代都從事烘培。作為法國烘培師的兒子並沒有什麼特權， Willar在做出第一個牛角包之前，也是從洗碗開始做起。15歲時Willar成為一名全職麵包師，在父親手下接受了五年培訓。後來他移居美國，曾在佛羅里達州的麗思卡爾頓和科羅拉多州的布羅德莫等多家酒店工作，磨練烘培技藝，最終在2014年加入永利，負責管理烘培運營，每年需要製作多達174種麵包，消耗250噸麵粉。他的26人團隊每日要為永利和萬利拉斯維加斯的28間店鋪製作10,000至20,000個麵包。Willar表示：「其他酒店會用機器生產麵包，但是在這裡，每個麵包都是手工製作的。」
THE NATURALIST JOHN MUIR WROTE, “JUST BREAD AND WATER AND DELIGHTFUL TOIL IS ALL I NEED.” Johann Willar, Wynn’s executive baker, could say the same. Willar is a third-generation baker who grew up in Armentières, in northern France, where his father owned two bakeries. And being the son of the boulangier conferred no special privilege either. He started as a dishwasher before he ever made his first croissant. By 15, Willar was a full-time baker, and he trained for five more years under his father. When he moved to the U.S., he honed his craft at various hotel companies including Ritz-carlton in Florida and The Broadmoor in Colorado before landing at Wynn in 2014, where he presides over an operation that makes 174 varieties of bread and uses 250 tons of flour annually. His team of 26 produces between 10,000 to 20,000 pieces of bread each day, servicing 28 outlets in Wynn and Encore. “In other hotels, the bread is made by machines. Here, every piece is finished by hand,” he says.
在廚房裡， Willar如同一位不知疲倦地高速工作的苦行僧，不停製作煙肉芝士卷（專供永利扒房）、椒鹽酥餅（全酒店最受歡迎的麵包品種）、épis de blé（外觀如同一束小麥的法包），動作輕鬆優雅，切割麵團精準得像是外科醫生做手術一樣。他表示：「切割麵團是非常重要的事情，是烘焙師的簽名式。」我深呼吸著從烤箱裡散發出的香氣，一種高山仰止的心情油然而生。從本質上講，麵包不過是由麵粉、水、鹽和酵母按無數種比例組合起來，然而在Willar手中，卻像是被施加了魔法。我能做出相似的美味嗎，抑或我根本就生錯了地方？畢竟麵包在法國美食和社會生活中的地位如此根深蒂固，而在美國，它不過是在食物金字塔的邊緣徘徊。Willar說：「麵包是必不可少的食物。我們在一萬年以前已經開始製作麵包。我可以一整天只吃麵包加牛油，並且感到心滿意足。烘焙師在法國是備受尊敬的職業，因為是人們生活中極為重要的一環。從節慶、生日蛋糕到日常飲食，都在以各種方式為他們帶來影響。」我問Willar是不是在麵包製作方面有點石成金的天生靈犀，他向我保證說，其實任何人都能學會，但當然了，練習是最關鍵的（這位仁兄去年一共製作了450萬個麵包）。當我大嚼椒鹽酥餅時，有在認真思考他的建議。酥餅洋溢著牛油香氣的暖意和鹹香都準確無誤地擊中了我的味蕾，我由此得出結論：可能我無法成為一名出色的麵包師，但我一定是個麵包愛好者。為了驗證這個結論，我再吃了一個煙肉芝士卷。
In the kitchen, Willar is a carb-fueled whirling dervish, crafting bacon and cheese rolls (exclusive to SW Steakhouse), pretzels (the property’s most popular offering) and épis de blé (a baguette that resembles a sheaf of wheat) with effortless grace, scoring the dough with a surgeon’s precision. “Scoring the bread is very important,” he notes. “That’s your signature.” As I inhale the aroma coming out of the ovens, I feel a quiet despair. At its essence, bread is simply an endless permutation of flour, water, salt and yeast, and yet in Willar’s hands, it turns into something akin to magic. Could I do the same, or was I simply raised on the wrong continent? After all, bread is ingrained in the gastronomic and social fabric of France, whereas in America, it’s the boogeyman skulking around the food pyramid. “Bread is essential,” Willar says. “We’ve been making it for 10,000 years. I can eat just bread and butter all day and I will be satisfied. In France, baking is a highly regarded profession, because you’re so much a part of people’s lives. You affect them in every way, from their cakes during holidays and birthdays to their daily meals.” I ask Willar if he has a kind of sixth sense when it comes to the alchemy of bread-making, and he reassures me that anyone can learn. And, of course, practice is key (says the man who made 4.5 million pieces last year). I take his advice into consideration as I bite into a pretzel, its buttery warmth and saltiness hitting my taste buds at just the right intersection. Perhaps I’m less a baker and more a bread lover, I conclude. But just to be sure, I try a bacon and cheese roll next.