Recently, I was a judge at the Pickering Buttertart Festival. As I was heading out, someone offered me a piece of cheesecake in a beautiful bag. The cheesecake was made by Hip Hip Gourmet. I got home and, after dinner, tasted the cheesecake along with my wife and daughter. I am not a big fan of cheesecake. This was the best cheesecake I have tasted in my life. I got in touch with Andrea Lagana the owner of Hip Hip Gourmet. Andrea is smart, intelligent, makes everything from scratch, cares for the environment, and is socially responsible. Please order your cheesecake and support her. Andrea Lagana is the future of the hospitality industry in Canada. A day will come when she will change the landscape of the industry and be its voice, conscience, and leader.

Andrea, you are a connoisseur of good food and a person with a discerning palate. Tell me a little about you and what does a connoisseur mean?

An expert in something! I know my food. I love my food. I love that life revolves around food! A connoisseur to me is knowing something inside and out. Not necessarily knowing all there is to know about a certain topic or subject, per se, but really immersing yourself fully into all aspects of that thing you might be a connoisseur of. There are wine connoisseurs, art connoisseurs, car connoisseurs, cheesecake connoisseurs…. A person who believes they know enough about something to have a pretty good opinion on it is what I think a connoisseur means.

The little about me that you should know right off the bat are I make delicious cheesecakes for a living (pretty decent gig, huh?). I am well on my way to achieving a goal that means a lot to me: really and truly traveling and experiencing 30 different countries under 30 years old! (woot woot!) and I absolutely love furry four-legged friends and can’t wait to finally own at least 2 very big dogs one day!

Talk to me about your experience growing up in an Italian family. How did that influence you?

Ah, it was THE best! Our lives and traditions – everything we did, every event, special occasion, holiday…heck, even funerals – called for large family gatherings which only really means one thing in the Italian language: FOOD. Everything revolves around food!  My sisters and I really came to love and be proud of our culture – we didn’t care that our parents would often send us to school with paninis stuffed with what looks like the weirdest green vegetable on the planet to any other kid in class but to us was a family staple that we loved so much: rapini.

Growing up in an Italian family, fortunately, meant never going hungry but beyond that, just eating some of the greatest tasting foods around. We were always able to help keep up with the traditions, still to this day, and learned from a very young age that home-cooked everything is simply a way of life. Let’s just say that Nonna didn’t really approve of McDonald’s. All these things really helped shape me into the cook I am today because homemade, for me, is just part of who I am and was raised to be. Further than that, our family lost our greatest cook back in 2014, and I have a part to play in keeping my grandmother’s memory alive through her all-time favorite thing to do: feed people! And I’d be damned if I let her down in that category.

I like that you cook everything from scratch. Do you also try to do ethical sourcing?

Oh yeah, cooking from scratch is an essential part of my life. I really try to stay on top of meal planning (not so much prepping) just simply jotting down my meals for the week at which time I pick apart each dish and see what can be homemade instead of store-bought in terms of sauces, pastes, marinades, etc. I’ll even be starting to make my own cream cheese for my cheesecakes starting very soon! THAT’S what I mean when I say from scratch…I live by it at home so bringing that feature to my business only seems fitting!

I always try and do ethical sourcing wherever possible. I do think it’s important where our food is coming from and the process it took to get to the table but I will admit, I’m not the type to watch a video on this and become vegan because of it, for example. I try and buy grass-fed and organic when possible and would say I’m pretty aware of what makes a diet healthy (and do think, for the most part, I have one!) but like anything else, I’m certainly not perfect.

What makes your cheesecakes different from something I would find somewhere else?

If you put one of my cheesecakes next to one from, say, the grocery store or your local bakery, you’ll likely be able to see the difference yourself. All of my cheesecakes are carefully handcrafted by yours truly, not a machine and definitely not factory-made. Some of my crusts may not look perfectly straight and no cake will be exactly like the next, as I’m literally doing everything by hand, but I think that’s the beauty of what really sets me apart from the next guy! People love the homemade factor because my cakes still not only look like they’ve come right off the dessert menu in a high-class restaurant but you can absolutely taste the quality fresh ingredients that are carefully chosen to use in each recipe.

I’m also super adaptable when it comes to making people’s cheesecake dreams come true! Don’t see your favorite flavor on my website? Just let me know, there’s no flavor I’ve turned down yet! On a special diet? Have an allergy? Are you vegan? No problem!

What does woman empowerment mean to you?

When I read those two words together, I automatically think fierce, strong, support, love, POWER towards a woman or as a woman. Woman empowerment to me means rising above and standing tall, feeling independent and proud in her role in this world and not being afraid of who she is….ever!

Name me some of your favorite ingredients in the kitchen and least favorite ingredients?

I love using anything with spice – I like heat in my dishes – scotch bonnets, chilies, jalapenos, you name it!

Some of my favorite ingredients in my kitchen honestly didn’t even come from here! I’m a huge traveler and a mandatory part of every trip is hitting up as many markets as I can before having to buy a new suitcase to fit all the goods (almost always food-related). I once spent a year traveling in South America and I KID YOU NOT, carried around a whole separate suitcase (the BIG ones, too!) solely for spices and cooking equipment. I had over 50 spices in that bag so needless to say spices are my all-time fav ingredient(s) in the kitchen!

I don’t have a least favorite – I try to make something new every day! I’m not a picky eater but there are some ingredients you’d never catch in my kitchen (simply because I don’t like them)….cilantro, avocados, and watermelon are among the very few!

You have a vegan, vegetarian, someone who is on a keto diet, a diabetic, and someone who is allergic to dairy. What dessert would you serve them?

Cheesecake! The answer is always cheesecake! That’s the beauty….it can be made any and all of these ways and still taste delicious!

Walk me through your shoes of being a female entrepreneur… The good, bad, and the ugly?

I’m still pretty new at this! It all started as a fluke for me, quite honestly. My life up until a few months ago consisted of serving drinks at a busy bar 5 nights a week…working long and late hours, something I had done for nearly 15 years! I had extra cream cheese in my fridge the Halloween before last (don’t ask) and decided to make a pumpkin pie cheesecake for some odd reason (which by the way, was my first cheesecake EVER!) I brought it into work to share with my fellow colleagues and almost immediately my boss (owner of the restaurant) said we had to put it on the menu based on how good it was. Who knew my life would actually change forever at that time?

I went on to continue to work at that restaurant for the next year, serving my own cheesecakes on the menu…daily. It was a rewarding and incredible experience to have been given that opportunity. From there, it kind of just snowballed – I picked up a few more wholesale clients and a ton of regular clients and here we are, only three months into doing this full-time, still grasping the concept of what being a female entrepreneur actually means! I’m so thankful to have amazing support around me from family and friends cause let’s be honest, I’m not even ashamed to admit, I don’t know the first thing when it comes to being a businesswoman. But, you gotta start somewhere, and that’s really what it’s been about so far!

Are there any chefs you admire?

I really like Bobby Flay and would love to have my chance to beat him one day on his show!

Talk to me about somethings that you are very Italian, somethings you are not?

I guess it depends on who you ask! My boyfriend would tell you I’m loud and as stubborn as it gets (a known Italian trait). My mother would tell you she has no idea where this travel bug of mine came from cause it’s certainly not from how she or my Italian father were raised. I’d say I’m pretty Italian when it comes to some of my all-time favorite foods – salami and prosciutto but not when it comes to knowing how to speak it (ashamed to even admit I don’t speak it fluently). Obviously, my love for cooking and feeding people an overwhelming amount of food is influenced by my Italian background. I am extremely shy and quiet, love to be alone and don’t like small talk – one could probably argue that’s not very Italian.  

Finally, tell me what you’d do if you won the lottery right now…?

Literally put my life on hold and head to the airport (extend the invite to my family and friends but they have to be willing to leave with me immediately) with a blindfold covering my eyes as I spun a globe to see the destination. I always wanted to do that. Then I’d probably just keep going until I found a spot I could maybe open a little (cheesecake) shop or something in. Likely somewhere hot. On or near a beach. Now you have me dreaming…

The post Andrea Lagana: Cheesecake Queen appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Audrey Dufay is the Chef and Owner of Terre de Sienne.   A bar of unique chocolate made by hand from ethically sourced ingredients. Audrey began working at the age of 21 in France as an apprentice at Sadaharu Aoki. She has worked in various pastry shops and restaurants in Europe and Australia. The idea of making her own chocolate originated from research into the chocolate industry and her desire to make a change in the way chocolate is sourced and handled. Some chocolate makers choose to get their chocolate as a semifinished product after the grinding or conching stage. At Terre de Sienne, she prefers to get the beans after the drying stage, sort them, roast them, and turn them into chocolate. She believes in corporate social responsibility and sources ethically.

Audrey, I want to know something unique and important about you that no one knows. Go ahead and tell me?

I believe that sexism is still a thing. I still don’t feel treated the same as men around me. I keep quiet. I try to make a change. There is this trend of calling a woman “feminist”, like if it is a bad word every time we denounce unfair treatment.

Help me understand what inspired you to become a pastry chef? On a daily basis, where do you go for your inspiration to become creative?

I have always loved food. However, I did not see it as a career, until I faced an obstacle. I was studying medicine until the age of 20.  I did not get the grades to get into the specialty that I wanted. The French school system being what it is didn’t allow me to sign up on time for my plan B.

Not knowing what to do actually drove me to what I wanted the most, make food, especially pastry and chocolates.

I get my inspiration from my love for a good dessert. I love to cook what I love to eat. I also like to discover new flavors and start from the ingredients themselves, instead of creating on paper and then ordering the ingredients needed to make the dish.

Did you go to culinary school or are you self taught?

I always prefer to teach myself rather than learn from others. I think that it gives me more freedom, allows me to think outside of the box, and to try new techniques.

But I have to say that the basics have to be taught, for this, I did an apprenticeship in France, 1 week at school, 3 weeks at work, for a year.

Talk to me about your three most favorite ingredients in the pastry kitchen and why do you like them?

My favorite ingredients are:

• Dark chocolate. I just fell in love with making it. There are so many ways to make it and use it.
• Almonds. I love praline, marzipan, frangipan.. as long as it is not too sweet.
• Fruits. It is too hard for me to pick one. I just love them all. They are amazing to work with in pastry, raw, cooked, poached, roasted.. once again so many things to do with them.

If you were given a chance to rewrite all the pastry books in the world, what three ingredients would you get rid of and why?

I would get rid of:

Food coloring. It is not needed and it’s been overly used recently in my opinion. It happens that I have to use it as well. However, I am trying to be sensitive about it and keep my food as real as possible.

Bought in fruit purées. I understand that some chefs find it great to keep recipes constant and be able to make a strawberry mousse in the middle of winter, but this is where the problem is. Working with seasonal ingredients is very important to me. I like to work around what’s available at the time.

Lecithin. I just think that it’s a cheat to make preparation more stable and looking better when there is no real need for it.

Walk me through the city you live in. How is the food scene? What are the hot restaurants? Why should we visit your city?

I am new to the area so I will speak about the city I used to live in before that.

I just moved from Sydney, Australia. It has the best food scene I have experienced so far. From a very cheap Asian “street food style” food court to fine dining restaurant. I have been blown away by the diversity of the food there. There is food from everywhere, especially from Asia (which was perfect for me because this is my favorite food), and for every occasion, breakfast, late brunch, cheap lunch, afternoon cakes and bubble teas, to a fancy restaurant and late-night eateries.

Places to visit :

Food courts/fast food: laksa from Happy chef, ramen from Gumshara, fried chicken from Butter, char hor fun from Ho Jiak..and many more.

Do you believe in ethical sourcing for your chocolate?

Ethical sourcing is extremely important to me. It is just the right thing to do. People work hard to provide ingredients, they should get the respect they deserve.

Explain to me what does women’s empowerment means to you?

I have mixed feelings about women’s empowerment. I think that it’s a great thing but at the same time, it shouldn’t even exist. Women should have had the same “power” and authority from the beginning. Therefore it shouldn’t be any empowerment needed.

Sadly it is still needed, but I am happy to live in a time when things are changing, and there are people to hear you out, and help you on the journey.

Do women make better pastry chefs? Why?

I don’t like to put gender on job skills, I would say that if we do become better it could be because of the feeling that we have to work twice as hard to get what we want.

You were at the savor patissier of the year competition in Australia. How was the competition?

It was a very good experience. A great way to be aware of my weaknesses and to grow from it.

What are your future plans for the chocolate business? How does personal finance play a role in that?

I just started my chocolate business. I am leaving pastry on the side to focus on chocolate making.

I am sourcing my cocoa beans ethically, and treat them with respect to the environment. I banned single-use plastic from my kitchen and from my packaging. To make a change we need to start from ourselves and this is why I made those decisions. They might not be financially the best option, but this is what feels right to me.

I have been planning on having my own business for a very long time. I have been saving since then, in order to provide the equipment needed, my branding, how I want it to be, and take my time to make things right, while paying my rent and my food for as long as it takes to have a profitable business.

Life throws all kinds of curveballs at us. I want to know something challenging in your life. How you overcame it and what did you learn from that?

The most challenging thing I overcame is probably not succeeding while in medical school. However, it’s also what brought me where I am at the moment. It was the most challenging time for me because I was young and in the mindset of a 20 years old student, who thinks that school success is everything. I am very happy to have discovered that life is full of other kinds of curveballs and that there is always a way to grow from it no matter how hard it feels at the time.

How has your family helped you with the person that you are today?

My family has helped me by letting me be the person I wanted to be. They give me good advice here and there when I needed it, by telling me off when I was getting off track. But they never told me that I couldn’t do anything. I always felt supported in my own choices. Out of the three sisters, I am the only one who didn’t carry on in a medical career and it has never been a problem or even mentioned by my parents. There was only one condition in what we were doing, do it if it makes you happy and with passion.

You make your own chocolate…talk to me about it. Where can we get it?

I get my cocoa beans from a company called uncommoncacao. The beans are from transparent trade. My customers can trace how much the farmers are paid, and what is the condition of work. Once I have them. I roast them, sort them, crack them and remove the husk from the nibs. I turn the nibs in cocoa liquor with my grinder, then I add the other ingredients. Once all that is done I temper the chocolate, mold it in bars and package it.

My chocolate is on sale online at https://www.terredesiennechocolate.com/ for UK and France. I am also looking for retails spots. I just found my first one in a beautiful antique shop in Worthing UK, the display is a 1948 chocolate fridge. I am very excited to display my chocolate there (Bygone Treasures, 33 Brighton Rd).

My daughter is 15. She wants to make a career as a pastry chef. Give her some advice on the dedication, hard work, sacrifice and the long hours involved?

For me, the key is passion. Being a pastry chef is hard, like any other chef’s, there are long days. Sometimes over 14hours. We never have weekends off. Therefore, it is hard to have a social life. But with passion, it is worth it. You just need to keep your goal in mind, know where you want to go and what you want to achieve, and it all falls into place.

How do you deal with the long hours and stress of the job?

To be honest it is still very hard for me after more than 12hours straight standing on my feet. I try to feel better by having a laugh with my colleagues and keep a positive vibe. I like the heat of service. It gives a kick of adrenaline. On the other hand, the stress that comes from the hierarchy can be quite toxic. I deal with this by talking it out with my boyfriend who is also a chef and understands.

Vegans are on the rise. What are some of the desserts you serve vegan clients?

For vegans, I like to make almond milk chocolate ganache, with fresh fruit and fruit sorbet.

You are chosen to go to MARS. You are allowed only 5 personal items. What would it be and why?

A camera to take as many pictures as possible, my partner, my two sisters (I hope they count as items), and some chocolate.

The post Audrey Dufay: Chocolate Maker With a Conscience appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.