La folie du chocolat

Qu’ils allient des saveurs improbables ou prennent des formes artistiques, les chocolats d’exception flattent autant le regard que le palais. Certains chocolatiers sont considérés comme de véritables joailliers du cacao. A l’instar de Patrick Roger, élu Meilleur Ouvrier de France en 2000, dont les créations sont l’expression de tous les désirs et de tous les délires. La caméra le suit de son laboratoire de Sceaux, où il élabore ses nouvelles recettes, jusqu’en Equateur où sont cultivés de grands cacaos aux arômes exceptionnels. Les possibilités sont infinies, tant sur le plan culinaire que cosmétique ou pharmacologique.

Réalisation : Virginie Tumorticchi

Tangy marriage, vinegar, grapes and caramel. Basil infusion, exquisite charm oats which it is called burst. Fantasy or crime? Here is the new face of chocolate. If it hasn’t been a long time than an object of consumption, cocoa has become the object of all desires and all delusions.

It no longer sells like a vulgar merchandise, but is exposed. Poems in jewelry boxes. Here is the author of these chocolate poems. A biker chocolatier and a little rock’n’roll. Patrick Roger was voted best worker of France in the year 2000, and he is part of the avant-garde from the French chocolate factory.

At Seaux in his laboratory 700 square meters, creativity reigns supreme. In this immense space, these chocolatiers prepare millions of chocolate candies. Classic pralines and ganaches and original creations. – Stefano? – Yes sir. – So, today, the objective, is to make a half-sphere. In this principle, obviously, but the idea is…

When I was a kid, I loved licorice. I still love him… Like everything that is Carensac, you know, things rolling around and all that. And I really want that we associate it with a fruit. And I find that licorice plus either blackcurrant or blueberry, it is very good.

Whenever he can, Patrick Roger makes experiments and invents new chocolates. Today is a craving for licorice who guides him. A return to childhood. Blueberries, lemons… The chef’s particularity is his attachment to the products of the land, reminiscences of taste from the countryside where he grew up.

– Taste this, it seems crazy, but I think that takes us to basil too. Patrick Roger creates by association of ideas, and ideas flow in all directions. – Do we mix the infusion at the end? – We are going to infuse basil, but in the device. Cyril, I have an idea!

He can’t stand my ideas. We just made a news blackcurrant almond paste. And the idea is that in addition, we add another texture to the ganache. And like that, when we go to taste, we will have other sensations. Basil and almond paste and still no chocolate.

We almost forget that we are at a chocolatier. – It’s good ? – Yes ! It is not necessary that there is too much almond paste. These marriages of local products and exotic ingredients, always have a hidden meaning. – You don’t have to say yes to please myself!

All it takes is one meeting, of a given moment or a smell. And all of a sudden, you say to yourself that yes, that’s it, that’s what I want. I’m not searching, I never search. Suddenly, I have a click, I tell myself that I have this taste of licorice,

I’m just going to eat a candy. And I’m like, “Of course, that’s it!” It’s this thing that makes that will be the trigger. I will tell myself that the first ingredient is licorice. I will say to myself: “But what do I associate it with?”

And immediately, it transports me towards a black fruit for example. And that’s how that I am going to build my recipe. And this alchemy, It’s super difficult to explain. It is: What is the accuracy of taste? And that, to explain that, we can always hang on.

Patrick Roger, cook or crazy chocolatier, we lose our Latin. Despite appearances, it’s ganache of his new chocolate that he is simmering. Licorice powder, blueberries, basil. Verdict: – I think it lacks basil. When you eat, you add salt and pepper. I simply add basil. I balance the taste.

For example vegetables, if you don’t add salt, or if there is no seasoning on it, it’s going to be a little bland. And so we will balance compared to our taste. Only when the soup is to his liking that Patrick finally becomes a chocolatier again.

To finalize his ganache, he chose a duo of dark and white chocolate. This mixture will fill the future chocolate. The creative process can seem wacky and messy, but Patrick Roger follows its own logic, and his troops try to understand him. It’s like saying… What does a painter think? when he draws a picture?

It comes from inside him. Afterwards, we are collaborators, we give our opinion, we give ideas, we bring ideas, if we have them, sometimes like that. We understand in the end. But see all the steps and the reflection at the start, why this ? It’s still inexplicable. We discovered it as a culinary artist.

This time, the chocolatier becomes a painter. In his pistol, it’s not paint, but cocoa butter with colored food pigments. Patrick wants to create a new shell for his new chocolate. A half-sphere in blueberry tones. – The goal is to restore the fruit…

So that when we see it, we already have the impression of being transported to a taste, towards something we know. And that’s the goal. It’s like having a painting. Each piece is different. But really we are already in the taste just by seeing the piece.

Groping, 4 layers of different colors to try to get the tone just right. It takes 69 hours of work to create a chocolate like this. Three times as long than for a classic chocolate. This half-sphere will be sold €2 each in store, but the work and the result are rather bright.

– I love light which passes inside, this transparency. That’s what’s really beautiful. The idea is to have this contemporary painting, where there, really, you get an eyeful. Even for me, it’s… Even if I dream it like that, It’s not obvious that it comes out like that. – Did you dream it like that?

– There, I dreamed it in this side of the painting where each piece is different, truly unique and truly exceptional. To end the experience, there is nothing left that the essential step: The final filling, the union of contemporary painting and great cuisine, in short, the realization of this new chocolate.

Patrick Roger then summons all his chocolatiers. It’s judgment time. We taste, we look. And it’s not because that he is the boss that we will take care of him. – It’s better than… Barely dark enough. That’s beautiful. That’s pretty, I think. – It’s true that there is too much acidity compared to fruits,

And we must revisit maybe a bit of the recipe. As usual, we are improving every time we did it. We’re doing some tests and we’ll see what happens next. times to improve the recipe, to find a little more the taste of blueberries. – It’s not perfect to taste, but visually,

We already have something exceptional. We can rework the taste tonight. – A recipe is never done on the first try. – It’s like Formula 1 on each circuit, these are “sitting” problems, so you have to sort it out. We have the best car, or the best chocolate,

And then, it’s dosing all the parameters that ensure that the taste will be there. – What we do here, we will not do never anywhere else, that’s for sure. – Because in my opinion, These chocolates are super thoughtful. But it’s crazy in the “daring” sense.

There would be no chocolate Formula 1, nor crazy chocolatier, if there were no amateurs enlightened to motivate their creativity. Direction Mundolsheim, 12 kilometers from Strasbourg. We have an appointment with a chocolatier which also innovates for its customers. What exactly does he do? Funny toasts.

– It’s homemade foie gras that we have already decided on the guitar, and I’m putting a small piece of chocolate, so that you can coat them more easily. Because it is very delicate to coat, because we are going to make candy with chocolate, foie gras. Atypical sweets delicately coated with liquid chocolate.

Thierry Mulhaupt prepares for This evening an extraordinary meal. An all-chocolate menu for a circle of informed amateurs. All dishes will be enhanced of cocoa from aperitif to dessert. But working chocolate with foie gras remains one of the chocolatier’s specialties. – Foie gras and chocolate work well,

Because there is harmony between the two bitternesses. We have the extremely soft side of fat foie gras which counterbalances, with a bit of a strong side and the bitterness of chocolate candy. We are in registers of both times a little similar in terms of chords,

And then we even oppose downright in terms of bitterness, or a little salty side too, but it’s going to be very little sweet, it’ll just bring back a crunch, an aromatic background a little woody, cocoa. Thierry has no limits in his creations. With two fingers finesse and inventiveness,

Everything can go well with chocolate, even chorizo. – It’s the chocolatier who loves the charcuterie that does that. It’s a chorizo ​​from the Basque Country which is extraordinary, therefore very strong in terms of taste, and under two thin layers of very fine chocolate palate. We are on savory notes.

Couverture chocolate which contains 66% cocoa, will bring back a lot of bitterness and very little sugar in fact. The tasting evening takes place in a wine cellar. Around twenty guests decided to try the “all chocolate” experience. As an aperitif, Thierry draws sacristans, cocoa, black olives, almonds and its famous chocolate chorizo.

– It is surprising ! I don’t like chorizo, but it’s delicious. For me, they are the same tones than chocolate. As surprising as it is. But the fatty side chocolate is interesting. All washed down by one of the inventions the most surprising of the chocolatier. A chocolate beer.

– To make beer, you need very pure water. You need hops. For there a dark beer, therefore, malted barley is required. And there, it’s more a very special malted barley. It’s called chocolate malt. that we’re going to take for that. So there is already a little cocoa notes. And with that, we have…

From the bean that we are going to crush, which will be brewed with the malt. A beer that is savored like a wine. – I find it explosive at first. We feel the hops well and we can smell the cocoa beans,

But in terms of length, we are left with not much. The beer problem. – I find that it has a side relatively evolved, with notes… A very pretty nose, relatively floral. The rest of the meal will revolve around of 7 chocolate bites. Milk chocolate broth on a cube of foie gras.

– It’s very good! Passing through cocoa spring rolls. – You feel like you’re eating a spring roll traditional with a hint of chocolate, who is really very curious but which fits well. To finish with a risotto, raw ham, chanterelles and chocolate, until the final bouquet: foie gras candies,

And the chocolate and truffle tart. A festival of flavors which upsets the taste buds. – These are really things interesting in terms of clash of flavors, at melt-in-your-mouth level. – For me, it doesn’t take away anything with the charm of chocolate. On the contrary. It completely opens up new things,

New pairings between this chocolate and and put them on, I think it’s fabulous. – Thierry went through different chocolates, different cocoas, whether from Ecuador or the Caribbean with different % of cocoa, and it was very pleasant. When you are a chocolate esthete, we have access to these subtleties.

The latest trend is to approach cocoa like wine. From now on, we are talking about great wines. Eating chocolate offers a journey around of the world through producing countries. And this journey begins in our supermarkets. Brazil, Colombia, Madagascar. We no longer buy a simple tablet, but a raw one, an original cocoa.

Industrialists and chocolatiers started the trend. From now on, chocolate is a noble and complex material. Immediate boarding for an initiatory journey. Patrick Roger wants to be the best, for that, he must go back to the source. – We arrive in Guayaquil, Ecuador and it is one of the bastions of…

It gives me goosebumps. Fine cocoa and very beautiful cocoa. – You have traveled more than 10,000 km to come and see cocoa? It’s the least we can do if we want to. do your job, know your product well. It’s really important to know this culture of little ones, or these big farmers finally.

Guayaquil, economic capital of Ecuador, one of the leading producing countries of cocoa in the world, with 100,000 tonnes per year. But Ecuador is especially famous for its fine cocoa with exceptional aromas. Here is the man who will escort Patrick on this journey. He is a sourcer.

He is the one who selects cocoa for the chocolatier. André Debert is the gentleman cocoa which allows me, to have extremely fine cocoas and of high quality. And he’s someone I like… I have a lot of emotions… Which I greatly appreciate for the quality of his work,

And what allows us to do next. I still have goosebumps. This is the 2nd time. – We must not forget that today, to be able to make good ganaches, you have to have chocolate who has character, which allows them to express their art, we’ll say. So, we are upstream,

We work upstream to make the chocolates they need. So that Patrick understands this mysterious upstream work, direction the cocoa plantations. A 3-hour drive from Guayaquil, is one of the most old cocoa growing regions of the country. Right at the foot of the Andes, in San Jose del Tambo.

It’s the start of the lectures and practical work for the chocolatier. – They are wonderful. – He’s the owner. André’s work consists of to flush out these nuggets of gold, the best pods that contain the best beans. – That’s really the classic form.

There is really a bottleneck here, and then a good “rounded” tip, A good point at the bottom. These are really the shapes with fairly pronounced furrows, compared to a lot of cocoa. -And that’s what you’re looking for? – That’s what we’re looking for here.

– How to recognize a pod, the good and the bad? – Already the national cocoa, it is a cocoa when it ripens which turns yellow, It is yellow, when it is not ripe, it is green and when it ripens it is yellow. So if you take pods,

If you see for example pods like these. That’s a variety which is more recent, which was established in Ecuador much more recently, which is called CCN51, which is a hybrid that was made, we will say, by human beings, by an agronomist who is very productive, but not good. We don’t want that!

That, in the cocoa of Ecuador, It shouldn’t appear. – You can taste both to see, to see the difference. Fine cocoa from Ecuador is one of the most renowned in the world. Patrick’s goal: Learn to properly identify the best beans. – There you go, we can taste it.

And it’s difficult, because a bean doesn’t taste like chocolate yet. – We start with the good one. Its particularities about this one? – This one is very fine, he has no bitterness. – Do we have any lychee, rose on it? – A little bit of pink.

– It seems super light to me. – Very little. – It’s beautiful inside. – It looks beautiful. – There is nothing that differentiates it from the other. – This is where it gets complicated. – It is unpleasant, at the beginning of the mouth, we don’t feel too much, but afterwards!

– And so that’s super… – Acidity…Astringency… – The astringency is more on the bean and then the acidity. – And the taste behind it is not pleasant. I recall the characteristics fine cocoa that we are looking for. It is a base which is a fruity base because I insist,

Because few people today they say it. In the characteristic of Ecuadorian cocoa, the base should be fruity. It is a cocoa which by the principle must be gentle. And on that we have floral notes. Jasmine, rose, in general. – Rare are cocoas that have no problem, it’s even non-existent.

The goal is to minimize all problems, and that’s why we do this work with André, where I insist all the time have things as smooth as possible, and with as few defects as possible, because it’s really super complex. And the problem is that as soon as we go to work behind,

Inevitably, we risk amplifying if there is a major defect. Few defects, floral aromas which cannot be found anywhere else. The selection of cocoa varieties is the sine qua non condition, to any exceptional chocolate creation. Second private lesson: fermentation of cocoa beans. – It’s a beautiful place here. An important step.

It is here that are born aroma precursors. By working with producers, André is the guarantor of good progress of this stage. – It smells good there! – The first two days, you leave You don’t touch your cocoa. You do as he did! You cover with banana leaves.

– It seemed to me that it was necessary stir until smooth. – No, not the first 2 days. – We have the same temperature in the center and on the edges? – Yes, you haven’t yet temperature phenomena. This is essential, this is the 1st step.

If this one is missed, everything is messed up behind. – Even if we have a superb cocoa at the start, superb beans? – Everything is a failure. Below, the fermented beans dry in the open air. Patrick questions, tastes. A high-end chocolatier must understand, to refine your mastery of chocolate.

– How long does it take to dry? – Here, it will dry… It will take him five, six days. – This is the beginning of cooking. We have all the sensitivity that starts here. This is what will make me, with all the kinds of blankets I have,

I will be able to assemble different products. I think that one of the difficulties, It’s like my job. It’s about being consistent in your work. We ask them to be much more regular. Because as we establish a recipe in relation,

To a certain constancy of a product, upstream, they have an interest in being strong, because otherwise, in the process, then everything will be shifted. – It’s complicated because there are parameters which are grafted onto it, which are seasonal parameters, because you won’t have automatically the same taste,

If you take out the harvested cocoa after a wet season, significant rainfall or after a dry season. – The taste of cocoa is there though. Amazing. In the somewhat cracked die-hard genre, Patrick and André got along well. They never stop striving for excellence.

In the field, our sourcer is not satisfied not to select the best cocoas. He goes even further. For 5 years, he has undertaken to safeguard the national cocoa of Ecuador, the country’s fine cocoa. How ? By creating clone gardens. These workers were trained in grafting of the best varieties of cocoa trees.

– You take a tree saying: “This one produces well. Plus, it tastes good. I’m going to reproduce it.” You have no certainty of reproducing the tree identically, because genetically there are crossings that take place, and you don’t know everything the genealogy of the tree.

So grafting completely allows with certainty of having the identical result. Their heritage is the identity of this called fine Ecuadorian cocoa. So today it’s urgent to regenerate the plantations. It is urgent to save this material because otherwise it will disappear. And inevitably, this rescue mission is of great interest to Patrick Roger.

– I would like to get involved for it to continue, otherwise, I wouldn’t have the right chocolates, the good masses, and I would have attack problems but problems with the back of the mouth. And we won’t have the right raw materials. – Is this a real concern? – It’s catastrophic.

– They were planted 8 months ago. In 2 years, there will be the first fruits. – It’s crazy work. You must be crazy. I think I’m here logical continuation of this work, which is completely mind-boggling. To be able to select the right plans, make them grow and dent,

Recover the roasted beans, make the cover, arrive at our home and transform again and reach the customer. It makes no sense ! You must be crazy! It’s clear ! From A to Z. On these South American lands where chocolate was born, were also born the first uses of cocoa. Nearly 1000 years BC,

The Aztecs did not crunch tablets. They coated their skin with cocoa butter to treat wounds or burns. 3000 years later, in France, the cosmetics industry seems to be rediscovering the dermatological virtues of chocolate. The latest fashion, It’s cocoa therapy. Active ingredients, cocoa butter or simply synthetic perfumes. We find chocolate in all sauces.

Most beauty salons offer today their chocolate treatments. – Good morning. Very well, you will be able to follow me. Sylvie is a regular aesthetic treatments. She decided to try for the first time chocolate cocooning. First experience: slipping in the skin of a piece of chocolate toast.

– At the start, when the chocolate slips on the body, it’s very pleasant. The heat, the creaminess. This wrap is supposed be anti-stress and anti-fatigue. – I am quite a greedy person, I wanted to try this chocolate treatment, to see precisely this slightly warm side, this slightly greedy side.

Plastic film helps to dilate pores, and thus helps the active ingredients cocoa to better penetrate the epidermis. – It will have moisturizing properties, nourishing, slimming effects, and by its smell, it will also have relaxing actions. 20 minute break, the chocolate permeates the entire epidermis.

This is the 21st century version Native American beauty rituals. – Cocoa and shea butter will have moisturizing and nourishing properties. Cocoa also protects against free radicals, who are responsible of skin aging. The Mayans coated themselves a mixture of rainwater, flower petals and cocoa to eliminate fatigue.

Today, beauticians praise the antioxidant properties of chocolate. Best of all, it looks nice. – This one is more relaxing, softer, than the care I usually do, since often these are treatments… More cleansing, let’s say. This is really sweetness. – We are going to apply the mask.

A chocolate mask that you will be able to taste. You will be able to dip your finger. It’s a chocolate fondue. Here is the only mask chocolate that can be eaten. A real fondue made by a chocolatier. It contains 64% pure cocoa and should be served hot on the skin.

The idea is profitable. Complete chocolate treatment body and face costs €168. A price that consumers are ready to pay. The return to nature is in tune with the times. – It changes from other treatments because that they will be able to taste their masks. For foodies who love chocolate will be nice.

– Being able to taste what will be applied to the face. This proves that it is still natural. The act of applying something to oneself which is not chemical, it’s already nice, this is a good thing. Spreading chocolate like that, It’s like doing something stupid to me.

Because chocolate usually, I eat it ! It’s still an experience. a little special. A special experience and maybe even more. In contact with chocolate, the body would secrete the hormones of desire, hormones that release tension, blows a wind of well-being, sometimes even euphoria. Pure fantasy or real benefit for the skin ?

We went to ask the question to a dermatologist. Is chocolate a product of miracle beauty, or a pure marketing product? – I think we have to wait of these products a moisturizing effect. Some are shower gels, cleansing effects without damaging the skin. Be careful when you buy these products, where it says “chocolate”,

To make the difference with those which are flavored with chocolate, and those who truly constituents of chocolate. Those that are flavored with chocolate are most often synthetic perfumes. So there is nothing which might be interesting. There are polyphenols in chocolate which have an anti-radical action, Anti aging, which are in minimal doses,

But we are not sure that these substances penetrate the skin. Looking back on the action of chocolate creams… We are in high fashion, and there is no Inserm team and others, who for the moment has not taken care of to show the benefit of these creams.

When the conquistadors brought cocoa back to Europe, it was very quickly sold in the form drinks at apothecaries. In addition to being good for the skin, chocolate is also good for your health. We went to check it out in the Brussels region, from the largest producer of chocolate in the world.

Welcome to the mad scientists of cocoa. Here, we do fundamental research to create new tablets, which would be beneficial for our health. Here are Mr. and Mrs. Chocolat Santé. Herwig Bernhard works on the anti-aging effect. Marijke De Brouwer elaborates a chocolate good for the teeth. The treasure of cocoa lies in its beans.

These are the flavanols. These molecules became real stars. Scientific research has revealed that they are naturally antioxidant. They could prevent certain diseases like cancer, or coronary heart disease. And that’s Herwig’s obsession. For several months, he has been developing his small chocolates enriched with flavanols.

– The most important thing is for the tension, reduction of tension, for health. There is also an effect beneficial for the skin. For example, if we only eat 8 or 9 of these small particles, we already have a reduction skin wrinkles, and also an improvement hydration of the skin.

It’s like a cream used on the skin. Today, Herwig seeks to increase the quantity of flavanols in its chocolates. Its objective is to still be closer to the medicine, with higher active ingredient dosages. Here, in the total quantity, we see an amount roughly 3% in chocolate.

And that means that with a quantity 7 gr of dark chocolate, like here, that’s enough to have a beneficial effect for health. The objective is to maintain good taste, because flavanols really have an astringent taste, and it’s not so nice to eat chocolate that is astringent.

So here, the project we have, it’s about having a balance, a balance between good taste and the amount of flavanols. Marijke, for her part, working on an amazing invention. A chocolate good for the teeth, intended for children. The secret of this invention is a new type of sugar: isomaltulose.

It would prevent the development of cavities. – Bacteria do not know this type of sugar. They can not attack this type of sugar. And thanks to that, there is no a fermentation process. There is no acidity that is formed. And thanks to that, teeth are well protected.

The effectiveness of this chocolate on enamel teeth has already been tested, but before marketing it, it is essential to know if it tastes good. Tasting session with members of the research laboratory. With her questionnaire, Marijke wants to know if the chocolate is creamy,

If it melts well in the mouth or if it has no aftertaste. By breaking the negative image of chocolate sweet, bad for teeth, manufacturers hope to attract parents and win over new customers. Verdict… – It’s a good chocolate with a good cocoa taste. They said a little caramelized, a little milk taste.

So perfect. – So, are you going to market it? – Yes ! We are going to launch this product and we hope that it will sell very well. Caries prevention or cardiovascular diseases. We attribute all the virtues to cocoa. A boon for chocolate manufacturers who set out to conquer new markets.

But these chocolate alternatives Aren’t they quite simply, consumption incentives? To disentangle the true from the false, we are this time with a nutritionist. We brought him everything found on our shelves. Chocolate enriched with vitamins, in minerals, omega 3, guarana, etc. – My point of view as a dietician, these are essentially marketing elements,

To encourage chocolate consumption. Chocolate is not medicine nor a food supplement. It is a food source of pleasure, flavor, taste whatever you want. Studies have shown that chocolate provided interesting sources of magnesium, antioxidants, phosphorus, potassium, etc. So yes, chocolate provides nutrients and interesting micronutrients.

But I think we must not forget that chocolate brings, about 500-550 calories per 100 grams. So in a tablet like this, you have almost the equivalent of a meal. In short, eating too much chocolate makes you gain weight and being overweight is a source of disease.

But if we cannot really can’t do without it, there is another way to experience this pleasure. To discover it, we find Patrick Roger. These tablets will not be chewed. They will be used support for a work of art. In his cocoa madness, the chocolatier is also a sculptor.

– So here, I’m going to stick my mini-tablets for the beginning of the city. So it starts like this. I’m starting to make buildings. Because the objective of this piece artistic, it’s the city. So I mount the tablets one over the other. There, to begin with, something very simple.

And then there will be buildings more and more complicated. This order, it’s for Marianne Denicourt. So, we have to deliver to him for his show. And so now, we must build the city! It’s a race against time. In 3 weeks, Patrick must offer this sculpture to Marianne Denicourt.

The actress is a big fan of his chocolates, and his agent wants to surprise him on the evening of the first performance of his new play, which is called “The City”. A city composed overlays of mini tablets. A perilous choice. The sculpture may be very fragile.

– This must be delivered to Paris. I’m not telling you about the madness. In terms of sculpture, Patrick Roger This is not his first attempt. He already has several pieces master to his credit, with very different techniques. – That, we had direct size, so straight into the block like marble.

It was the beginning of my beautiful first pieces really. This is the 4th and I’m tackling to something very heavy. This is in 1994. In 1996, I registered for the first time to the Meilleur Ouvrier de France. And there, I’m going to miss the competition. And in 2000,

I will become the best worker in France with this piece in qualifications. And there, that will be the consecration. Since then, he has continued to innovate. Here his gun is loaded tinted cocoa butter, to paint upside-down hearts red. – I’m going to work for Marianne’s play…

There will be a few elements like the Sydney theater, but which is very architectural. And then this will be installed in the city. It is obvious that for this request, you have to be closest possible of the person. I think he’s really someone which is very sensual, very feminine.

And start with all these little upside-down hearts, very rich, very warm, it’s really very important. Before the city took shape, hours and hours of work await Patrick. In the depths of Yvelines, in Maule, rises another temple of sculpture. Her guardian is called Hélène. She is the daughter of a chocolatier.

And his workplace is rather atypical. – I’ll try to make a little sneaker. I would like to make a range of shoes for each person in the family. The handyman dad’s shoe, the businessman dad’s shoe, sexy mom’s shoe, backpacker shoes, and the little boy’s shoe. We’re going to try to do little basketball.

Hélène is not a shoemaker, she is the queen of chocolate sculptures. Today she decided to create a chocolate sneaker, starting from a real child’s shoe. And his method is very different of that of Patrick Roger. – So there, I put the PVC sheet. It’s a food grade PVC…

On the shoe, I turn on the vacuum pump. And we’re going to heat the plastic. We have a big toaster, a large heating resistor. She does not sculpt by hand, she makes molds, to mass produce sculptures. A fad that she inherited of his studies.

– My training in design had pushed me towards objects, and when my parents considered to retire, I told myself rather than continue to make lamps and chairs, and a lot of designers do it. If I applied what I learned to make with chocolate, and that I approached chocolate like a material,

As if I were making an object in wood or ceramic… It was not an approach obvious a priori. I told them: “I’m coming to work with you for 1-2 years.” I’m starting to experiment with this principle of objects chocolate containers,

And we see if it works or if it crashes and no one cares. And the idea quickly caught on. Chocolate sculptures have become the brand image of this chocolate factory. – I tried on sneakers. Look, it comes out really well. I would love for you to try.

What is practical is that the laboratory is located just above his workshop. She can thus test all her delusions life size with chocolate. – We will test and often, there are alterations to do so that it unmolds correctly, or so that the details come out better.

We really do this 2-3 tries before launching a real series of molds. With her creations, Hélène revolutionized the work of its chocolatier employees. – 6 years ago, I didn’t expect to make chocolate shoes, make small boxes and that I will see children, even amazed adults by what I do. – So, what gives?

For this new piece, the 1st testing phase is completed. Unmolding seems to be going well. Hélène will be able to extend the experience. – How are you ? – We will see. I am looking forward. – Yes, I’m fine ! – It’s good ? – Can I continue then? – Yes !

We make about ten of them, we’re going to try some decorations on it. She works with chocolate like she would work on painting, with a knife or brush. – With the pigments, I make it appear a little the details which are at the bottom of the mold.

You can also work the pigment diluted with alcohol. We are more on textures, either very powdery like what I’m doing there. Either, we work with the very diluted pigment and we do watercolors. – What do you think about it like that? – I like. I adore ! – Breakfast, it’s stronger than me,

I take my paper and my pen and I make sketches, and I need to always have a creation in progress. And his imagination is quite overflowing. In general, before launching a series, Hélène directly tests the effect of his sculptures on the public. It’s easy, his shop is located just under the laboratory.

– I like being in the store. I’m there at least one day a week, in order to feel the customer’s feedback, the way he will perceive what we propose. I listen to his remarks. And sometimes there are products that are even responses to customer comments.

A museum shop where she exhibits her works of art. Works of art that have a price. From 70 to 200 euros for these boxes hand carved and painted. In this exhibition, we can eat the works of art, and apparently, it attracts crowds. Some customers feast their eyes when others rack their brains.

– Is that paint on it? – So, I think we should ask them the question. But it is certainly food colorings. I don’t know what they use as products for decoration, anyway, it’s chocolate. – So what is it Who surprises you the most? – We saw shoes which were made of chocolate.

All in chocolate, it was very weird. They looked like real shoes when we were far away. – You take or classic or less classic? – I’ll take a classic. €36 for this stiletto heel. The price of a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

– It’s a bit commonplace to bring a box chocolates or a bouquet of flowers. And there it will be more original and it will have extra appeal. It can almost be considered like a work of art in reality, we can make a shoe out of clay, in wood, we can make sculpture.

She’s almost that in reality! She favors the artistic side of things and she has a lot of creativity. Creativity within everyone’s reach. By mass producing sculptures, Hélène makes the chocolate dream accessible. Monumental sculpture, on the other hand, wants to be extraordinary. We are back in Seaux after more than 80 hours of work,

Patrick Roger finally completes the city, sculpted for the actress Marianne Denicourt. – To create the park and green spaces, I had the lime caramels for the big park, a yuzu caramel to make like in Nice, the Promenade des Anglais, the river is with my technique, with the pleated sheet.

Afterwards, you have the small aerial metro, more like Tokyo where everything is in suspension. I took small rocks pralines, very tasty, because when she receives the coin, it’s interesting to be able to still taste some chocolates. The city is standing, but one last challenge awaits Patrick: Transport the part without breaking it.

Its manufacturing cost is several thousand euros. One shock and everything can collapse like a house of cards. Oddly enough, Patrick chose a car sports car as a delivery truck. – We need to remove a thickness of duvet… It hits ! It’s super fragile. This piece is more complex than a piece of glass.

A piece of glass, we know how to measure its resistance. There, you never know when is it going to break. – Have you already broken many? – Not bad, even if we have lots of experience, we have a lot of problems since we take a lot of risk in terms of parts.

I may be one of the only who makes pieces like that, because it ruined his job if everything falls to the ground. I wasted a week of work. Head to the Théâtre des Abbesses in Paris. Marianne Denicourt is on stage. – And my communication was well received! Yes, but really well received!

My hand was shaking at first, but everyone listened to me, and they even laughed at my jokes. – You, any jokes? – Yes ! – I was nervous, obviously for the jokes, but the jokes worked. At the same time, on the artists’ entrance side, the sculpture is still whole.

The spiral staircase is barely wide enough. This is the last obstacle to overcome before reaching the back stage. An unusual place to exhibit a sculpture, but Patrick wants to make a surprise to the actress as she left the stage. – Thank you so much ! – It was nothing.

– But well done! – The city. The city, absolutely. You must not eat it! – But you can still eat a small piece. – Maybe a little piece because you have the best chocolates in the world. André, come see this! This is what you describe in the piece! – That’s wonderful !

– The river… The parks… The gardens. – What work ! – What extraordinary work! – Here, if you want to taste. – THANKS. – This is a little praline rock. – THANKS. – Camille, taste the chocolate. – This is the 1st time that we offer you a chocolate statue?

– But yes, you can imagine. What an emotion for a foodie like me! All the chocolates are exceptional. There are all kinds of tastes… Yes, it’s above all about creating chocolate sculptures. That’s wonderful. It’s like theater, it’s ephemeral. A performance, at the end, it’s over. – Chocolate is the same.

– It’s living art. – I can take it off. This is the latest creation. One of the last ones based on yuzu, it’s a very small lime from Japan. – Wonderful, thank you very much. – We don’t know how to attack him. A small, discreet one… – My goal is to please.

– To tell the truth, it’s mostly I am happy. – He was a little stressed perhaps? – No… – It’s difficult, but the important thing, is that customers come back. And that’s what’s difficult… It’s to please. – I’ve been spotted. I have to take a photo of it. Before everyone has eaten it!

Let him eat himself, let him look at himself or that it sticks to our skin. Chocolate remains a magical gift, as memories often are, which bring us back to the innocence of our childhood. – Thank you anyway ! Thank you 1000 times! – It’s with great pleasure. – That’s great !

I think this is the best gift! Best gift I could ask for.