With just a few days to go until the sixth annual Bangkok Chefs Charity Gala Dinner, chef Claus Olsen met with Life to talk about the final course of the dinner: a fruity dessert, with a touch of chocolate.
Executive pastry chef Claus Olsen of the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, and executive chef Pierre Andre Hauss of the Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Bangkok.
“I looked at the other dishes on the menu and the last thing you want to do is make a heavy chocolate dessert after such a big meal. Chocolate will be a component of the petit fours and macaroons, so I will be taking a minimalist approach in using chocolate for the dessert,” said chef Olsen, who has been at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok for almost four years.
The dish, Manjari Chocolate Frost With Yuzu, Calamansi Liquid Sorbet And Chocolate Snow, also has a gluten-free lemon cake in the middle, which allows the flavour and texture of each element to come together for a sweet ensemble.
This year’s Thai-inspired theme prompted chef Olsen to source fruit grown in the country, such as lemons from the Royal Project.
“Thailand is full of citrus fruits, including calamansi, which originally comes from the Phillipines and yuzu from Japan. They are now locally grown because there’s a market for them,” he said.
The fruits lend a sour flavour and the yuzu, in particular, brings a hint of bitterness. The dessert will have a thin layer of Valrhona’s Manjari chocolate sprayed on top as frosting, which will also add a fruity characteristic to the dish.
Chef Olsen has always had a fondness for making desserts and said that his baking gene comes from his grandfather.
“I grew up in my grandfather’s bakery in Copenhagen. The creativity in a bakery is amazing. You can’t do so much with a piece of beef, whereas you can play [a lot] more when making pastry,” said the Danish chef, who started his career at the age of 14.
Although he had many creative ideas for gala dinner’s dessert course, chef Olsen settled on simplicity and flavours, and paid particular attention to the presentation of the dish.
“The plate has to have enough space to put together all the elements, I want it to look relaxed,” said chef Olsen.
This is not the first time that chef Olsen has participated in the Bangkok Chefs Charity Gala Dinner as, in the capacity of chef at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, he has made bread and petit fours for previous events.
“Behind the scenes, in the kitchen, it’s fun but also there’s a lot of pressure and you feel really good when everything’s done,” he said. “With the proceeds going to help needy children, you feel even better as the small things you do have a big impact on somebody else’s life.”
