Page 2 - The Age (Weekend Suppliment) 24th of December, 2005.
Q. Where are you from?
A. I grew up in Toulouse (France), where I trained, for 6 ˝ years, to be a chef. When I decided to specialise, I moved to Paris to complete a masters degree in pastries and chocolate in 3 years. But in all, it took me 15 hard years to master this craft.
Q. How did you end up in Melbourne?
A. I decided I would like to experience an entire Olympics year to see how a city was affected by it. So, in 1998, my wife and Helene and I left France to travel overland to Australia. We crossed 14 countries, travelled by bus, train, plane, boat, horses, bikes and motorbikes, walked across two countries and arrived in Darwin a year later.
Q. And then?
A. We bought a car and drove to Sydney, by which time I had $20 left. So I took a chef's job and worked through the Olympics. Late that year, I began to work for Laurant Boyllon, who owns Melbourne's Laurant chain, and he suggested I move here.
Q. When and why did you open Cacao?
A. I worked for Laurant (Boyllon) until June 2003. But I had always wanted a place of my own so I left, with Laurant's blessing, and began work on Cacao which I opened early in 2004.
Q. But why Melbourne?
A. Because Melbourne is ideal for what I wanted to do. Melbournians love travel, and many of my regulars have experienced pastries and chocolates in France, and they know what can be achieved. I find people here to be very open to new experiences, and very interested in food. This is a city of connoisseurs, or at least, connoisseurs in training.
Q. One thing that sets your chocolate apart is price. Isn't that a problem for you?
A. No, not really. Expensive chocolates will not appeal to everyone, but the market for super-premium chocolate is growing in Melbourne. My own chocolates work out at $1.45 each, which may sound expensive. But people seldom think so after they have tried one or two.
Q. Is the any real advantage in eating posh chocolate rather than, say, Cherry Ripes, which I love?
A. Yes. Dark, premium chocolate is very good for you. It is pure - containing only cocoa butter, cocoa mass and a small amount of sugar. It has all sorts of health benefits, especially in terms of circulation, and is a great source of energy.
Q. How do you know?
A. Every Frenchman knows. That is why children are given hot chocolate - made, ideally, by grating pure chocolate into warm milk - before school every day. It really helps concentration. I drank it every morning of my life until I was 17 when, finally, I learnt to drink coffee.
Q. Do you still eat chocolate?
A. Of course. I eat about 75g of pure chocolate a day. I could not survive without it. And even when we were travelling through countries that did not sell premium chocolate, I found I would have to buy bars of Nestle chocolate or even Kit Kats to survive.
Q. You work long hours. But you are strangely cheerful. Why?
A. Chocolate. I work 13 to 14 hours a day at this time of the year, and around Easter, plus a couple of hours in my office doing paper work. I start at 4:30am and work until 9 or 9:30pm. But I could not do it without chocolate, which is my only drug, and almost my only vice.
Q. And the cheerful part?
A. How could I not be? I am happy every morning when I wake up, even if it is 4am, because I know that I am going to enjoy myself. Chocolate makes you feel that way.
|
About Cacao
Chocolate has long been considered unbeatable in the confectionary stakes – it's rich, sexy, and addictive. To the delight of the discerning chocolate palate, chocolate of the finest global standard is now being handcrafted in Melbourne at Cacao Fine Chocolates (pronouced car-cay-oh.)
In the warmer months orders are shipped in refrigerated boxes ensuring your chocolate arrives in perfect condition.
Located in the heart of Melbourne: