Angélique and Pauline or the rock and roll duo of plant-based cuisine!
With their very own style, it's truly inspiring to see their creations. They just keep pushing the creativity higher and higher! It's great to know that you've got cooking rock stars in the plant world!
They agreed to answer my questions and it's really interesting to immerse in their universe and their career! Thank you, girls!
How long have you been cooking plant-based ?
Pauline: 23 years of cooking and more than 10 years of plant-based cooking!
Angélique: 6 years
What motivated you to take that leap?
👩🏼👩🏼🍳 Pauline: In 2012, I went to live in Hong Kong, and when I discovered the markets and products used there (fake eggs, live fish in the markets, pesticides....), I started to learn about healthy eating, without additives, without animal products, without sugar.... My cooking then evolved to allow my customers to discover a new cuisine and to be consistent with my new eating habits.
👩🏻👩🏻🍳Angélique : Following a report on chick farming, I radically changed my entire diet in the space of a week. I didn't want to take part in this massacre any more.
What difficulties have you encountered? How did you overcome them?
👩🏼👩🏼🍳 Pauline: The first difficulty was getting my family to understand my choices. My grandparents were butchers and my dad still is! (one of the biggest lamb wholesalers in Europe 😅). Now they love tasting my cooking! But my grandmother will always ask me when I get to her house if I want a chicken for lunch (which she raises at home, bearing in mind that the henhouse overlooks the front door and the front door directly onto the oven!!!! Basically, the chickens can see their peers being roasted... 🤦🏼♀️)
The second difficulty was accepting my choice from my husband, who for a long time told everyone that we used to eat saucissons together! But now his culinary universe has evolved so much that the plant-based touch has taken over! We can also talk about the difficulties of going to restaurants with friends! Fortunately, we have lots of chef friends who make the effort to prepare vegetables for me!
👩🏻👩🏻🍳 Angélique: The people around me - my family (butcher and caterer) and some of my friends, as well as my partner at the time - didn't accept my choice. Little by little, I introduced them to plant-based cooking and patisserie, which they appreciated. I'm open-minded, so I've never been extreme with them; on the contrary, I take a rather gentle approach to opening their eyes to certain subjects.
Have you had any difficulties integrating plant-based cuisine into your professional practice / your establishment?
👩🏼👩🏼🍳 Pauline: The difficulty has been in developing a slightly more upmarket version of plant-based cuisine. We like to work with seasonal, local, organic or sustainable produce and it's complicated and time-consuming to find small producers.... It's worth adding that we've come across people who aren't necessarily friendly or open to discussion, even though they advocate veganism.
What has changed (in your cooking, your creativity, your team, your clientele...)?
👩🏼👩🏼🍳 Pauline: My cooking is becoming more refined and clearer. I'm trying to get down to basics, while incorporating more and more techniques and crazy ingredients. What changed the most was meeting Angélique. More than a friendship, we have an incredible complicity, my soul mate from the culinary world! We have the same vision and we complement each other like crazy! I don't like pastries, but she loves them and makes them sublime! Me, who stays hidden in the kitchen, she manages the service side!
👩🏻👩🏻🍳 Angélique: It's opened the doors to such a vast and diverse world for me, and my knowledge of plants, flowers and leaves has become a passion!
Where do you look for inspiration (other chefs, culinary styles, books, etc.)?
👩🏼👩🏼🍳 Pauline: Without hesitation, Auguste Escoffier's culinary guide. I love cookery books of all kinds, a lot of them aren't vegan but they give me inspiration. I'm also very inspired by my travels and world cuisine! The chefs who inspire me are going to be Michelin-starred chefs: Rasmus Kofoed, Glenn Viel, Magnus Nilsson, Yannick Alléno, Jean-François Piège ... and the best: my better half 🤣 the person who is going to help me technically realise some of my ideas!!!
👩🏻👩🏻🍳 Angélique: Michelin-starred chefs are always a great source of inspiration, for example Régis Marcon has a very plant-based cuisine that I really like, Passard too. They're all well-known chefs who maintain their culinary techniques while adding a very plant-based twist! I'm also very fond of Asian and Italian cuisine, the cuisine of my heart!
What's your favourite (100% plant-based) dish? The plant based ingredient you can't live without?
👩🏼👩🏼🍳 Pauline: Rice 🤣🤣🤣 Personally, I can't live without rice and rice cooker 🤣 I get a sweat when I have more tamari sauce, black rice vinegar and more fried onions 😅
My favourite food: dim sum!!!
My star dish: the veggie pate and above all my signature dish: sauuuuuuces!!!!
👩🏻👩🏻🍳 Angélique: The ingredient I can't live without is pepper! In both dishes and desserts ...
My favourite dish : Any dish as long as there are mushrooms and truffles 😂
My favourite speciality: plant-based cheeses
