Baking lessons make French goodies accessible to locals

 

Romain Beaulande teaching how to make chovolate truffles at Connection bar & grill

By Annie Wei

 

 

One morning last weekend, a quiet restaurant on Gulou East Avenue suddenly became filled with excited chatter. A dozen young Chinese women were at Connections bar and grill for their first French baking lesson, and they were going to make chocolate truffles.

Directing the day’s work was Frenchman Romain Beaulande, an IT professional who considers it his mission to share delectable French baked goods with the Chinese people.

Beaulande has no formal training in cooking and baking; everything he knows stems from his passion for good food. “I’ve enjoyed cooking since I was a kid,” said the 28-year-old, whose grandmother, a Parisian baker, taught him the tricks of the trade.

In his six years in Beijing, Beaulande has never bought a cake for himself or for his friends. He said the products in local bakeries do not agree with his taste buds. And every time he brings a cake to a party, people are amazed at his sugary creation, and ask him for lessons.

“Romain’s cakes taste as good as what I can buy in Paris,” s Anita Ding, a 25-year-old investment analyst, who lived in Paris for 10 years. 

Beaulande seriously considered his friends’ request. After preparing for two months, he finally held his first class last Saturday.

He was probably more nervous at the time than his students. When they were melting the chocolate for the candy balls, he got a bit tense making sure his students did not burn down the restaurant. But the day will be remembered for people’s laughter and teasing.

Beaulande decided to “localize” his recipes because of several factors: Western ingredients are hard to find in town, they are usually pricey and most Chinese people do not own oven. It was a challenge finding affordable but quality ingredients, he said. For the chocolate truffle class, he charged 50 yuan per person, which covered both the ingredients and the venue rental.

Beaulande hopes to attract more young Chinese people to his class. So far, douban, a Chinese social networking site, has been a big help, he said.
For more information about Beaulande’s baking classes, visit his blog at blog.sina.com.c/chezromain.