Chef Romain Van Durman gives his thoughts after using the Elle & Vire Professionnel Mascarpone to make a classic tiramisu.
Ideal for both sweet and savoury preparations, the Elle & Vire Professionnel Mascarpone is a versatile product that saves time, gives the perfect consistency and can have a dish ready in minutes. One of the fastest recipe’s that can be made with this product is the classic tiramisu with a preparation time of five minutes and Chef Romain Van Durman, chef de cuisine, Chefs Palette at Fairmont The Palm experimented with the product on his take of a classic tiramisu.
“This is one of the most simple dessert dishes where you only have to mix ingredients together before assembling and plating,” Chef Romain says.
“It took me about five minutes to complete the dish with the Elle & Vire Professionnel Mascarpone as it is something consistent.
“I have used this brand before and can vouch for the fact that the consistency is always up to the mark, especially when you are working in big quantities like here at the hotel and need to ensure that the product is consistent when serving our dishes to the guest. With some brands you can be at ease because you know the quality will be there and Elle & Vire is one of them,” he adds.
Ticking the right boxes of quality and consistency means the taste and flavour of the dish is automatically enhanced, according to the Belgian chef.
“These two things are of prime importance when making a dish because a good quality product will give you the right taste while a consistent product will give you the right dish. You need to try it to know, if you compare a tomato to another tomato sometimes the taste is not the same but with this product you can be sure that the taste is consistent,” Chef Romain adds.
“Talking about the texture, especially when working in big quantities, using good quality products means the texture has to be perfect, when you use a bad product you can have the same recipe but a totally different texture, may be more of a liquid texture or thicker than required which in turn means that the quality of your dish will also fall. We cannot afford this in our kitchens. If you want to make a good dessert with good mascarpone you cannot go wrong with this product because you will always know what the final product will be like,” he says.
The amount of fat in the Elle & Vire Professionnel Mascarpone is high which is one of the reasons it gives such a good texture and taste, according to Chef Romain.
“The thing with this product is that the quantity of fat in it is high, which means the texture is more thick in the end and the product stays longer,” he says.
“The texture of a product will always be good if the quantity of fat in it is high. In a pastry kitchen you need these kind of products. If you have a cream with low fat quantity, it will never be thick. This is what pastry chefs look for, high quantity of fat in their product as from the technical point of view, it gives more taste and is important for the texture.”
Chef’s recommendation: 5/5
THE PRODUCT: Elle & Vire Professionnel Mascarpone is a triple cream cheese made from cow’s milk, mainly used to make a host of desserts and savoury bites. The product has a semi-thick, smooth and creamy texture that can be tailored to the chefs liking depending on the dish.
This texture means that the product is easier to use than fresh mascarpone due to the fact that it can be used for all the same things in the same proportions without the need to loosen it beforehand.
Moreover, the Elle & Vire Professionnel Mascarpone has a shelf life which is three times longer than fresh mascarpone and comes in one litre packaging for optimal storage in the fridge.
THE CHEF: Romain Van Durman is the chef de cuisine at Fairmont The Palm and is responsible for The Chefs Palette, the resorts dedicated cooking studio which hosts individual and group cooking classes for guests and residents.
Chef Romain started his culinary career completing a series of internships within two Michelin starred restaurants Le Château Du Mylord and Sea Grill by Chef Yves Mattagne both within Belgium. His first official role was chef de partie at Luxury Brasserie, Belgium until 2006 when he moved back to SeaHYPERLINK “https://www.linkedin.com/company/5424?trk=prof-exp-company-name” Grill.
Chef Romain moved to Dubai in 2014 to become Chef de cuisine at a five star luxury brand in Dubai International Financial Centre managing the kitchen for Café Belge and Sunken Garden, operating and managing a team of 16 chefs for three years.
