Making sweets from a scratch

After graduating from high school, Chef Takasu started working at a pastry shop at the age of 18.

It is a chocolatier that has been evaluated domestically and internationally, such as receiving the highest gold award at the C.C.C (Club des Croqueurs de Chocolat), the most prestigious chocolate fair in the chocolate world.

– How did you get started on the path of making sweets?

Mr. Takasu:“It all started with my mother. A friend of my mother's was going to introduce me to a place to work. I had always planned to work when I got out of high school, partly because I did not like to sit at a desk and study.

However, I had not learned any specialized terms or knowledge in the pastry store, so there were a lot of things I did not understand. For example, when I was asked to pick up strawberries from the refrigerator, I was told to "pick up a fraise". In many cases, imported goods were not even labeled in Japanese, and I would get told off for taking the wrong foodstuff. Finally, I was put in charge of weeding.

But that's fine. Since I didn't have an ideal or image of "I want to be a pastry chef", it would have been better if I could have worked purely.

At that time, there were three people who graduated from a vocational school in the same period, but they all quit after about half a year. After everyone quit, I returned to the kitchen to help the chef.

I peel apples and help make pastries. I found it surprisingly interesting, and I never quit, even if the work itself is monotonous to me or monotonous to others.

After doing that for three years, I was able to make my own sweets. ”

– After working at a pastry shop for three years, you went to Tokyo.

Mr. Takasu: "Most of the chocolates in the town's candy stores are ready-made goods that arrive at the store and are refilled and sold.

Among French sweets, bonbon chocolates and chocolate crafts using chocolate are important, but there are few opportunities to touch chocolate in Japanese pastry shops.

At that time, even the pastry shop I worked at did not sell chocolate. I wanted to work at "Theobroma", a pioneer of chocolate specialty stores, so I called to ask for a job.

I got a reply saying, "You can come from tomorrow."

The owner is going to Venezuela for a month starting the day after tomorrow. He said that if I wanted to interview, he was only available tomorrow. The main idea was that they need people now, but they are not sure if they can hire ahead of time because 20 new graduates are scheduled to join the company in April after they return from Venezuela.

Then I started working at "Theobroma" and worked there for a little less than 6 years. ”

- That's amazing. One reply, or rather, that exchange led you to Tokyo.

Mr. Takasu: “I worked from early in the morning until late at night. Even on my days off, I practiced at the shop and went to other shops to research. I didn't mind coming home late."

– You left there at the age of 28, right?

Mr. Takasu:“I became allergic to flour, so I couldn't eat noodles or bread and wouldn't touch sweets for a year. For a year or so, I freelanced, writing recipes for restaurants.

Instead, or perhaps because I have always loved wine, this is when I became a certified sommelier. Cacao and wine have similarities. The aromas are complex and changeable. They come from the same region, fermented and vinified, with nothing added, but they are different from year to year.

For example, even though there are no strawberries in it, it tastes like strawberries. The power of nature is a wonderful thing. There is something that touches the human heartstrings. Nature has a force that humans cannot cull.

He was a spartan teacher who qualified me in 3 months. I learned many things in a short period of time. We are still good friends today, and it was also a year in which I met new people. After that, I worked at a confectionery store in Nagoya for three years before opening my own store."

– Did Chef Takasu think about all the products that line up in the shop windows?

Mr. Takasu:"I handle everything from purchasing to processing. When thinking about new products, when it comes to chocolate, I keep eating the same chocolate bar for months while thinking about what kind of combination is best.

When I was hired, no matter what I came up with, it was checked by the chef and not all of them were hired. Now, if I think it's good, there's nothing that can stop me from commercializing it (laughs). If the products change frequently, it will be difficult for the sales person, so I try to stock up as much as possible. ”

Mr. Takasu:“Chocolate tastes different when you open the seal. The way the taste is perceived also depends on the conditions of the person eating it. In this sense, I feel it is important to create products that take into consideration both the taste of the chocolate itself and the situation of the person eating it.

As for chocolate, I also visit the cacao bean production areas every year and never fail to communicate with the local people. Colombia, Guatemala, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, etc. I try to go there to tell them what kind of things they want and the techniques of fermentation.

Ultimately, we procure the product in its finished form from Japanese suppliers, but in order to get what I want, I have to tell them first before I can begin. Besides, it's important to keep updating and increasing my knowledge of things like the growing environment and what types of beans are available."

Mr. Takasu: "I don't think sweets can give you the impression that can change your life. For example, there are things and things that can make a stronger change, such as marriage and childbirth.

What I can do is make delicious sweets with all my heart. There are many things in life. Eating the sweets I make makes me feel a little better. Isn't that good?

I am often asked, "When do you stand in the store?" I still stand in the kitchen every day making sweets.

About the future

-What do you want to do in the future?

Mr. Takasu:“Our main goal is to make all the chocolates we procure original. I believe that we can be truly unique. To achieve this, we need to control the process from the bean.

When I went to Paris when I was 18, I entered a chocolate shop. A man who entered the store ordered one truffle, threw it in his mouth and left. The shop staff also placed the ordered truffle in the palm of the man's hand. I thought it was great.

Even at this restaurant, French people sometimes come in and do the same thing, but there is an overwhelming difference in sensibility from the Japanese.

We sell annual passes, so there are 2-3 Japanese people who go there every week, but if that number increases to 20-30 people, the ways of enjoying chocolate will spread.

I think it's okay to lower the hurdles and have a free way of enjoying things. ”

Through this interview, I was amazed by the way of thinking of Chef Takasu, who continues to challenge his work with a sincere attitude.

During the talk, he said, "If you have decided what you want to do, rather than graduating from school, you should start working as soon as possible."

“The best part of my job is to win an award at a prestigious competition. Cleaning toilets is also part of my job. I figure out what I'm going to do next, make what the customer wants, and get paid for it."

Even if you don't have what is commonly called a "dream," such as "I want to be XX" or "I will succeed at XX," with first-class perseverance and an inquisitive mind, you can carve it out on your own. I felt like I got that kind of ale, and I felt radiant.

Thank you, Chef Takasu!