‘ I love the moment that the cocoa butter (the fat in chocolate) combines with the cream to form an emulsion – shiny and elastic. Perfection.’
Laurent first experienced working with chocolate when he was invited to produce a range of chocolates whilst working as Head Pastry Chef at a hotel in Singapore. Following a stint in Oman, Laurent returned to France to spend a year as Pastry Lecturer at Valrhona’s L’Ecole du Grand Chocolat.
Laurent moved to London in 2002 when he became Pastry Chef for a new restaurant group. In 2008 he joined Rococo Chocolates as Principle Chocolatier and ‘Prof du Choc’ in the School of Chocolate. Shortly after, Laurent entered two of his ganaches, ‘Tango’ and ‘Lychee Rose’, for The Academy of Chocolate Awards, where they were blind-tasted by his peers and both awarded Gold medals. More recently Laurent was voted Chocolatier of the Year after Rococo scooped 5 Golds in the Academy of Chocolate Awards 2011/12.
Q. What do you love about working with chocolate?
A. Chocolate makes people happy, so it is easy to love working with it! From a technical point of view, I particularly enjoy making ganaches. I love the moment that the cocoa butter (the fat in chocolate) combines with the cream to form an emulsion – shiny and elastic. Perfection.
Q. What, in your opinion, makes for great chocolate?
A. Provenance is very important: the variety of the beans and the care with which they have been treated throughout the farming and processing stages. My personal favourite chocolate is made from a combination of Criollo and Trinitario beans grown in Madagascar. It’s tangy with red fruit notes.
Q. Tell us one fact about chocolate that you find fascinating.
A. Cocoa butter is the only fat that you can melt and bring back to its original form. Done correctly (through tempering), chocolate can be melted and brought back to a solid with a perfect shine and snap.
Q. What was your greatest chocolate innovation?
A. I don’t consider myself particularly innovative. However, I do like to explore interesting flavour and texture combinations. A few years ago, I created a ‘truffle truffle’, a dark chocolate ganache flavoured with black Perigord truffle (yes, the mushroom!) and a hint of salt, covered in dark chocolate. It was surprisingly popular!
Q. Who inspires you?
A. I am inspired by my travels around the world. Latin America, South East Asia and the Middle East.
Q. What was your favourite chocolate as a child?
A. Poulain dark chocolate. Every day after school, my mother would have waiting for me a fresh piece of baguette spread with salted butter and filled with several squares of Poulain – the perfect French ‘gouter’.
Q. Do you have a guilty ‘low brow’ chocolate secret?
A. Lion Bars. I love the combination of soft caramel and crunch!
Q. What gets you out of bed in the morning?
A. Toast and an espresso!
Q. Who would you invite to your ideal dinner party?
A. My good friends and family.
Q. What would you serve for dessert?
A. Crème caramel. (I make a very good one. It’s my wife’s favourite!) And some vintage port with a few of my chocolates, of course.
Q. What exciting new creations are you working on at the moment?
A. A new chocolate for Christmas featuring mandarin orange…
Q. What’s your personal mantra?
A. Life is short. Eat chocolate!
