French cuisine | A passion that leaves no one cold

In the new book Recipes and transmission of the Best Craftsmen of Franceone name might particularly catch your attention: that of Roland Del Monte, not only because his recipe for “Island Ice Cream Sticks” seems exquisite, but also because this award-winning pastry chef and ice cream parlor has been established in Quebec for about fifteen years. He has worked at Europea and the Renoir. Meet this lover of sub-zero-degree sweets.

The Press : Can you tell us about your background?

Roland Del Monte: I followed a traditional apprenticeship, in a work-study program. Since I come from the south of France where it’s hot, I chose ice cream. When I got my master’s degree, I met a craftsman who was a Meilleur Ouvrier de France and it was a revelation. The texture, the softness in the mouth, the roundness: I like all of that. After working in France and traveling a lot, I went to Quebec for Montréal en Lumière, at the invitation of a journalist. I met the right people at the right time, which made me decide to settle there. I regularly go to Asia – Malaysia, Japan, China – to give classes. I trained the owner of Aux glaces de l’Anse, located at the Auberge rouge, facing the Percé rock; I also founded a project in Saint-Martin. Currently, I do a lot of consulting.

In 1994 you were awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France, which recognizes talent and success in various craft professions. Can you tell us more about it?

Contrary to what is often thought, it is not a test that you retake every year, but a title that you keep for life, after an exam overseen by the National Education. It is also the culmination of a personal approach. After a regional final, we move on to the national final where the theme is imposed. I had come across “The Fountains” and I had prepared an ice cream bomb, with a soft pistachio ganache, a praline ice cream and a parfait with old kirsch. We also had two sorbets to prepare: pineapple and mandarin.

What is your approach to ice cream?

I developed a passion for it because the ice cream business is very demanding. You have to work with materials and technology, you appreciate the metamorphosis of the product. But I didn’t invent anything: I improved what I learned from my elders. I’m particularly interested in elegance and refinement in texture. I don’t use any chemical flavors, everything is natural. I also like to use products discovered while traveling, such as kaffir lime from Reunion Island, Japanese yuzu, passion fruit from Mauritius, Chinese teas, and Timut pepper. For example, I developed recipes with fresh banana and four-spice, Victoria pineapple from Reunion Island with Malaysian curry, or parsnip ice cream with parsnip chips. In Quebec, I discovered haskap or sweet clover. And of course, I use maple products!

What will make the difference between good and excellent ice cream?

Whether it’s ice cream or sorbet, it has to be made with excellent products, like very fresh fruit. In Quebec, we have excellent strawberries, raspberries and excellent blueberries, you can’t go wrong. You also have to use the right ingredients: for pistachio ice cream, we use Sicilian pistachios, for hazelnuts, Piedmont hazelnuts. Above all, you must not be cheap in the raw material! For textures, as ice creams are defined by analytical tables, with for example a certain percentage of fat, or of defatted dry extract of milk, we play with these criteria, without exceeding them or lowering them too much, to obtain the desired texture.

You trained Chantal Otis, from Aux glaces de l’Anse, in Percé. How important is the transmission of know-how to you?

It is very important in the profession, because it is a place of exchange, with the aim of passing the baton. I have trained many Quebecers, I explain to them, I encourage them. Because even if I write you a recipe, if I do not tell you why I put such milk, such cream, such sugar, such fruit, it will not be enough. Especially since there is no universal recipe, each ice cream base – vanilla, coffee, chocolate, praline, etc. – has its own specific recipe. I have been able to observe a significant evolution of Quebecers over the last 15 years. Many go to France to do training courses, they are very interested in taste, and assimilate the teachings very well.

Recipes and transmission of the Best Craftsmen of France

Collective

International cuisine

182 pages

Island Ice Cream Sticks

Ready to test your ice cream skills? Making these popsicles will require some technique and equipment like a thermometer and an ice cream maker. It’s your turn!

Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking: 45 minutes
Cooling: at least 4 hours
Yield: 20 to 24 sticks

Ingredients

Cocoa icing (to be prepared the day before)

• 250 g of cocoa butter
• 250 g grape seed oil
• 500 g dark chocolate couverture

Caramelized nibs

• 100 g of sucrose
• 20 g of water
• 60 g cocoa nibs*

Coconut-vanilla ice cream

• 1 kg coconut pulp
• 6 g from cream stabilizer
• 200 g of sucrose
• 50 g of atomized glucose
• 50 g of dextrose
• 370 g of water
• 1 vanilla pod
• The zest of1 lime
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 g nutmeg
• Around twenty of sticks

The decor (optional)

• Sufficient quantity of white almond paste
• Sufficient quantity of yellow almond paste

* Cocoa nibs are made up ofRoasted bean shards crushed into small pieces.

Preparation

Cocoa icing (to be prepared the day before)

1. Melt the cocoa butter with the oil then pour over the chocolate. Mix and set aside.

Caramelized nibs

2. Cook the sucrose and water to 118°C. Add the cocoa nibs. Sand (work to obtain a sandy texture), then caramelize, and leave to cool on a plate.

Coconut-vanilla ice cream

3. Scrape the vanilla.

4. Mix the stabilizer with 80 g of sucrose. Pour in the water and heat the mixture. At 60 °C, add all the sugars (dextrose, atomized glucose and the rest of the sucrose).

5. When it starts to boil, stop cooking. Add the vanilla, lime zest, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

6. After maturation, add the coconut pulp. Pass the preparation through a strainer and churn in an ice cream maker. When the mixture comes out of the churn, add 200 g of caramelized cocoa nibs, then form the ice cream sticks and set aside in the cold.

7. Dip the ice cream sticks in the cocoa glaze at 30°C and refrigerate.

The decor

8. If desired, make marzipan flowers. Shape them in half-sphere molds and let them harden. Place them on each stick just after icing or after the ice cream sticks have been placed in the cold. To do this, stick the flowers with a touch of cocoa icing.