By Marie-Antoinette Issa.
When French-Swiss pastry Chef and famed chocolatier Amaury Guichon made his first-ever visit to Sydney this week, fans were hungry to get a taste of both his delicious desserts, as well as the delightfully creative genius behind them.
Fortunately, with Amaury headlining a special pop-up for the annual American Express Delicious Month Out – and crafting a decadent treat to mark the occasion – chocoholics were given the opportunity to sink their teeth into the kind of creations normally reserved for the 17 million Instagram followers viewing one of the Chef’s many viral creations.
Marie-Antoinette and Amaury Guichon.
Despite the sort of celebrity status generally associated with some of the superstars he counts as fans (Rihanna requested him to create a Lego sculpture of partner Rocky ASAP) the cookbook author, Australian Dessert Masters judge and co-founder of Las Vegas’ Pastry Academy showed that he really was made of sugar, spice and all things nice as he charmed local media at an exclusive launch event.
He also debuted a new chocolate dessert developed especially for the occasion called the ‘Cocoa Eventail’ and spilled on his love for all things cocoa.
"I created this dessert to capture the essence of what chocolate is to me,” revealed Amaury. "Chocolate can be so many things. It can be acidic, it can be bitter, it can be sweet, it can be rich.
"My goal was to try to find multiple textures using many different pastry elements to give your tastebuds the chance to read everything that chocolate expresses…even if it takes hours and hours of research in the kitchen to perfect something you can finish in about a minute and 30 seconds!” he laughed, crediting his talented team for perfecting each complex element.
Asked to outline his inspiration and process, Amaury reflected on the magic of family, tradition and children, before getting specific and admitting:
"I usually have a list of ideas on my desk or phone that I think over…but my inspiration is really anything beautiful. Chocolate crosses all generations. It speaks to all of us.”
After making a cheeky comparison between the "hundreds of dollars people pay for drinks at a nightclub” and the "$6-$7 people pay for a pastry…(requiring costly) ingredients, labour, research and development and overheads,” Amaury certainly made a strong case for the 3 pm sugar hit!
When probed by AGFG to open up about his proudest work, most humbling failure and love of flavours from around the world, Amaury did so in his signature sweet-as-chocolate style.
"I am very attached to what I do. I put a lot of love into all of my work. I wouldn't post something that I'm not proud of or that I believe is mediocre,” he said. Yet, he admitted, "I'm always not fully happy with the final result. There is always something to do better.”
While viewers of the 2022 TikTok reel that saw Amaury constructing a giraffe out of chocolate (and create the video that went on to claim the title of the platform’s most viewed video of the same year in the process) continue to be blown away by the Chef’s large-scale sculpture, he actually cites a much smaller creation as one of his greatest works.
"The one I was very proud of, I think, is the chocolate coffee clock…it's quite small and for me, it's the most well-developed product I've done.”
Nonetheless, even the world’s best aren’t immune to epic fails.
"I had one fail, about eight years ago. During class, I was teaching a chocolate showpiece and as I was building it, it collapsed before it was fully final. I learned a lot from this and I will definitely not do that again and always make sure it's stable.
"However, there are so many variables in chocolate that you cannot always control. So, when you work with chocolate, you're bound to fail at some point.”
Amaury also weighed in on the controversial Dubai chocolate trend - a viral hit online that’s drawn both praise and raised eyebrows for leading to a global pistachio shortage.
"I think everything that promotes chocolate in the world is positive. I've tried the product. It's not a bad product. It’s a bit sweet, but I think the concept is there, in the mix of nuttiness and fattiness. It’s fun and if it gets people to consume chocolate and are interested in the craft - like also pushing people to actually make them - I love it.”
Despite being classically trained in French pastry, Amaury’s palate is global. "I love cuisine everywhere around the world. Every time I travel, I like to try pastry,” singing the praises of a well-crafted baklava.
"The filo dough, the honey, the pistachio…it’s very good.”
Beyond the sugar, he is also no stranger to savoury. "Yes, very much,” he confirmed when asked about his skills in the kitchen. "I love crafting pasta…I do a lot of homemade pasta. Otherwise just a simple lean chicken salad. I have to stay fed.”
For those with an insatiable sweet tooth, Amaury’s exclusive ‘Cocoa Eventail’ – (a nod to the classic tart, but "an easier way to eat it”), featuring a rich chocolate cremeux and almond cream between a lush chocolate sable with chocolate ganache inside, all finished with a piped chocolate diplomat cream and Guichon’s chocolate stamp on a crunchy cacao nib tile - is currently available in-store at 20 Martin Place in the Sydney CBD from Thursday, May 8 to Saturday, May 10.
