{"id":17302,"date":"2026-09-23T13:58:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/about-helene\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T23:00:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T21:00:30","slug":"about-helene","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/en\/about-helene\/","title":{"rendered":"About me"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"17302\" class=\"elementor elementor-17302 elementor-5819\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1e48278 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"1e48278\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0dc7011 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"0dc7011\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Minute-Papillote-Helene-Thiers.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-17304\" alt=\"H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Thiers, founder of the Minute Papillote food blog\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Minute-Papillote-Helene-Thiers.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Minute-Papillote-Helene-Thiers-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Minute-Papillote-Helene-Thiers-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Minute-Papillote-Helene-Thiers-750x500.jpeg 750w, https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Minute-Papillote-Helene-Thiers-360x240.jpeg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c7fc0c4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1c7fc0c4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Hi, I&#8217;m H\u00e9l\u00e8ne!<\/h2><h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Where it all started<\/h2><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">My earliest food memories are of <strong>classic French family meals<\/strong>, the kind that last for hours: <strong>birthday parties<\/strong> and <strong>Sunday lunches<\/strong> at my grandmother\u2019s, the smell of roast chicken, dishes passed around the table, and conversations that never seemed to end, with everyone calling out from one end of the table to the other. In summer, there were <strong>juicy strawberries<\/strong>. In winter, there was <strong>\u201cthe crispy apple tart.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Speaking of \u201cthe crispy apple tart,\u201d my mother once tried to teach me how to make the dough. She grabbed a big bowl, rolled up her sleeves, and started mixing as she explained:<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cSee, you add a little&#8230; well, not too much. Oops, that\u2019s a bit too much, so now I\u2019ll add a little more of the&#8230; hmm, not bad&#8230; maybe a touch more&#8230; there, see? That\u2019s perfect.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I nodded as if I understood perfectly.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Years later, when I finally made \u201cthe crispy apple tart\u201d on my own, one look at the result told me I still had some work to do.<\/span><\/p><h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Learning the craft<\/h2><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So I got to work. Day after day, I cooked everything from savory to sweet, from simple dishes to more technical ones, trying to understand not just what worked, but why.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That drive to learn eventually took me to Lyon for a stage (a hands-on kitchen internship) at the <strong>Institut Paul Bocuse<\/strong>, now Institut Lyfe, one of France\u2019s most respected culinary schools. My time there deepened my respect for ingredients and my eye for precision.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Later, I studied independently for the <strong>CAP P\u00e2tissier<\/strong>, France\u2019s professional pastry qualification, and passed. It sharpened my technique and grounded me in the fundamentals behind a reliable recipe.<\/span><\/p><h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Cooking around the world<\/h2><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Meanwhile, my husband\u2019s work <strong>kept us on the move<\/strong>: the United States, Belgium (three separate times), the Czech Republic, Singapore, and a few stints back in France along the way.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We\u2019d arrive, <strong>settle in<\/strong>, <strong>meet new people<\/strong>, <strong>discover new flavors<\/strong> and ingredients, <strong>fall in love<\/strong> with a place, then pack up and start all over again. A kind of perpetual motion.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In each place, I cooked with what was available around me, learned new ways of doing things, and took a few new recipes with me every time we moved on.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Today, we\u2019re back in the U.S., and home is <strong>Houston<\/strong>. The way I cook keeps evolving with the ingredients and flavors I find here, and I adapt each recipe <strong>with American ingredients and kitchens in mind<\/strong>, while staying true to what makes the dish special.<\/span><\/p><h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">What you\u2019ll find here<\/h2><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Minute Papillote<\/em> is where all of that comes together: the recipes I grew up with in France, the ones I picked up while living abroad, and the dishes that have become part of my everyday cooking.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You\u2019ll find <strong>French classics<\/strong> and <strong>recipes from Asia and beyond<\/strong>, some traditional, some with a twist, along with <strong>quick weeknight dinners<\/strong> and a few dishes worth saving for <strong>special occasions<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And one day, I hope, \u201cthe crispy apple tart.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Psst, Mom&#8230; I may need one more lesson!<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Curious to see more?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-29447d0 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"29447d0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/www.minutepapillote.com\/recettes\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Browse the recipes \u2192<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi, I&#8217;m H\u00e9l\u00e8ne! Where it all started My earliest food memories are of classic French family meals, the kind that last for hours: birthday parties and Sunday lunches at my grandmother\u2019s, the smell of roast chicken, dishes passed around the table, and conversations that never [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17304,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"foodica_hide_title":false,"wpzoom_is_featured":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17302","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>About H\u00e9l\u00e8ne \u2013 Minute Papillote<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meet H\u00e9l\u00e8ne, a French home cook with a professional pastry diploma, sharing French and international recipes adapted for 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