Ramon Morato reveals the secrets of his Haiti finger food
Ramon Morato, the famous Spanish pastry chef and Cacao Barry’s Global Innovation Leader, had a slightly different challenge than other three pastry chefs who presented their creations at the Cacao Collective event at The Langham. While Sarah, Hideko and Cherish had freedom to choose any chocolate of their choice out of the Cacao Barry selection, Ramon Morato was challenged to create a dessert using the brand new Haiti chocolate from the Cacao Barry Origin range and the result was amazing.
Ramon, would you tell us the story behind your dessert?
My dessert is a tribute to the notes of the Haiti chocolate. After tasting it for the first time, I discovered in it notes of mango and citrus, with a strong character of cocoa. It's a great chocolate, round and very appetizing.
This inspired me to create a dessert with a citrus cream (passion fruit, yuzu and orange) with a powerful chocolate ganache made of Haiti chocolate, a soft chocolate cake and a cocoa sablé with hot pepper. Those basic flavours are finalized with some yogurt, fresh fennel, lime and black pepper.
When tasting my dessert you first feel black pepper with mango, then the citrus cream ganache, and finally the cocoa sablé with hot pepper.
As I was coming from Spain, there was another challenge: I had to do something that I could partially prepare in advance, bring it with me on the plane and finalise the dessert in London before the event as a “lego".
It was indeed delicious. Intense, chocolaty, spicy and very refreshing at the same time. What about the form? What inspired the look?
Basically I wanted to create something that would be easy to eat in the context of a cocktail party where all attendees are standing. The idea was to do something effective, yet easy to carry and to finish when joining the different pieces. It was also important for me to be able to finish it with fresh fruit and to use different textures to enhance a good tasting experience.
How did you feel about the Cacao Collective event?
It was a great experience being able to talk with old friends. I enjoyed the good vibes and company of the chefs who are always interested in new things and open for new experiences. I really enjoy London each time I visit it. It offers a fantastic professional environment and it is a very vibrant city.
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