Inspirations from Paris...

In the last week I came into some pretty devastating news about my career path.
I'll never become a trade qualified chef. 

Shocking news. For some reason, I got into the wrong course and TAFE told me that the only way you would become a trade qualified chef is if you do an apprenticeship and certificates in hospitality just don't really cut it and even if you have experience, you would only be a Pastry Cook. And frankly, I don't want to be just a Pastry Cook - I want to be a Pastry Chef.  So I called the Apprenticeship body and they told me that I was 'too qualified' to obtain an apprenticeship. 


How can you even be too qualified when you haven't had enough experience or training to begin with?! 

Confused and depressed as I was with this news, I didn't really know what to make of it and so I sulked on the idea that my entire plan for my life is going down the drain. Goodbye Switzerland, goodbye travelling, goodbye to the dreams of actually becoming a Qualified Pastry Chef. It even got to the point where I went through the same mental path as I did when I quit my Commercial Cookery Apprenticeship.

I just didn't want to do anything anymore.

But I guess the funny thing about passion is that it's just like an itch that you cannot help but scratch. It's a compelling feeling that just motivates you even more to go beyond the norm, explore ideas, tap into your creative side, gives you that feeling of enthusiasm and that desire to just do.

Walter Bagehot once said that "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do".
And so just like in ordinary fashion of classic retaliation, what better way to say 'up yours'!

Desperate to seek some form of inspiration and motivation, I stumbled upon a French Cookery book section. I started scanning through the pages of a particular book that captured my eye: Sweet Paris by Michael Paul.  Filled with photographs of Parisian aesthetics, a familiar sight caught my eye: The Mont Blanc.

image from Bonjour Paris

Earlier this year my friend Leon, travelled all over Europe and told me about a dessert that he had in Paris at Angelina. It was described to me as one of the best desserts he has ever eaten called the Mont Blanc which is a meringue base with cream and topped with chestnut purée. It was something that I was not really familiar with or actually have never heard of and when I was fortunate enough to be given a Mont Blanc from Becassè, I finally got to try the dessert. While it was nice, apparently it wasn't like the one from Angelina's and with tasting the flavours and the textures I gained an idea of the entire concept of the dessert. The meringue with a sweet and almost powdery, crunchy & chewy texture with a light and fluffy crème chantilly centre and a smooth, nutty chestnut finish.

So as a next challenge I seeked out to attempt the Mont Blanc.

First challenge was to find a recipe which resembles that of the Mont Blanc in Angelina, luckily enough I happened to find one on the internet by Chef Sebastian Bauer.

Next challenge was to find a particular piping tip used for a Mont Blanc, which I found in Chef's Warehouse in Surry Hills while casually having a stroll around the area after brunch with my friend Mikki (and if you're a music photography enthusiast, you should really check out her site!).

The final challenge was to find some chestnuts. Seeking all over Sydney for fresh chestnuts with my friend Elly as they are supposed to be in season, I found myself in an Asian grocer instead where they sold ready to eat roasted chestnuts and off I went to produce this enticing dessert.

Meringue, Cream & Chestnut. Done.