“The Pastry Battlers” documentary

Posted on May 12, 2013 | 1 Comment

Team dinnerTeam Pastry Australia at Le Cordon Bleu, Ryde, March 2013

Hello there!

Some of you might know that my partner and I have been following the Australian Pastry Team for two years in order to document their journey to Singapore for the Asian Pastry Cup, and then France for the World Pastry Cup.

We have hours of great footage, and we need the help of a professional editor to cut all this material into an awesome documentary. You can hear me talk about it in the video above (you’re allowed to have a laugh at my “unnaturalness” in front of a camera!)

TPA ShowpiecesTPA’s Sugar & Chocolate sculptures on display at the World Pastry Cup, France
©M.Venables 2013

That is why we have launched a Pozible campaign, which works on the principle of crowdfunding.

TPA SharkIce shark sculpture made by Barry Jones at the World Pastry Cup, France
©M.Venables 2013

Justin at HGVChocolate competitor Justin Yu at the Hunter Valley Chocolate Festival, 2012
©M.Venables 2013

We got the help of several partners who were very generous and offered their support to help this project come to fruition and thanks to them we have pretty cool rewards for our supporters, such as:

- a gift voucher for a cooking class with Vincent Gadan at Patisse. You can access this voucher and other cool stuff with our special “Ouh la la” reward

Vincent GadanFrench Pastry Chef Vincent Gadan from Patisse cooking school 

- Yearly subscriptions to publication Baking Business Magazine, where you will be able to read all the news about the pastry and baking industry, with regular contributors such as Pastry chefs Anna Polyviou (Shangri-La), Jessica Pedemont (Chocolate Artisan), Planet Cake director Paris Cutler etc.

Aus Baking Business

- 6-month memberships to Learn Cake Decorating Online with renowned teachers like Jessica Pedemont from Chocolate Artisan 

Cherry_cake_cover_image

- DVDs of the documentary “The Pastry Battlers” when it is finished
- Posters of “The Pastry Battlers”
- Downloads of the documentary
- Name listing in the film credits online
- Invitations to the screening launch

… and more!

Andre YssingeauxTPA Sugar competitor & Le Cordon Bleu Head Teacher Andre Sandison
©M.Venables 2013

Lovers of food, pastry and great stories, we need your help to make this documentary happen!

Spread the word to your friends, family, colleagues and even better, support the documentary with a pledge on: www.pozible.com/ThePastryBattlers

You can find more information on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ThePastryBattlers

Jeroen & BarryIce-carving trainer Jeroen Goossens and TPA competitor Barry Jones
©M.Venables 2013

Thank you :)

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Interview with native ingredients pioneers Jennice & Raymond Kersh

Posted on May 8, 2013 | 2 Comments

Bonjour guys,

Hope you are well! Today I’m republishing an article I wrote for my local paper, the South Sydney Herald, initially published on May 7th. I was honoured to meet Jennice & Raymond Kersh at Tapeo Cafe in Redfern for this interview, as I had heard of them ever since I arrived in Australia: they are real legends! They were the first to bring indigenous ingredients to the public in their (now closed) restaurant “Edna’s Table” in Sydney CBD.

Enjoy!

Jennice & Raymond KershJennice & Raymond Kersh at Tapeo Cafe, Redfern – Photo: Sandra Beeston

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Interview with Ludovic Geyer, Chef at Bistro Papillon

Posted on April 11, 2013 | 5 Comments

Ludovic_Geyer

A few months ago, as I was researching an article for the beautiful website Eat Love, I had the opportunity to meet with Ludovic Geyer, a French Chef who runs with partner Xavier Huitorel the popular Bistro Papillon, located in Sydney CBD.

Ludovic generously gave me his time to answer my questions about his experience of food as a French man who has been living in Australia for 8 years now.

Here are his answers… (translated into English by myself)

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A French winter

Posted on March 16, 2013 | 7 Comments

FRAAANCE !!!

ImageBrrrrrr…..

Aaaah, France in winter…. the snow, the cold, the icy wind, the trains blocked by frozen-up rails, running 1, 2, 3 hours late!  The beautiful puddles of melted snow sludge mixed with dog sh.t… The constant sneezing, runny nose, everyone being sick around you, the daily trips to the chemist…. Nope, really I don’t think I’ll ever say I miss French winters again!

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Team Pastry Australia: The Film – Pozible Campaign

Posted on January 25, 2013 | 1 Comment
The Australian team wins Gold at the Asia Pastry Cup 2012, Singapore
©Matthew Venables 2012

Dear Readers,

You might have seen in the Sydney Morning Herald of this week an article about the Australia Pastry Team, who is going to compete next week in the most prestigious international pastry event, the World Pastry Cup, taking place at the end of the month in Lyon, France.

As some of you might already know, my partner and I have filming these talented pastry chefs for more than two years now, and it has been a great experience to watch them work and train like madmen and create beautiful chocolate, sugar and ice sculptures. It has also been a privilege and a great pleasure to see them win Gold at the Asian Pastry Cup last year in Singapore!

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Paris, nous voilà! May 2012

Posted on January 16, 2013 | 5 Comments

À nous la capitale!

ParisAaaaah…. Paris.

Tour MontparnasseMontparnasse Tower

Paris PanoramaPanorama Paris, view from Tour Montparnasse ©M.Venables

Following our little misfortunes in Lyon, we had almost a whole week in Paris to live the dream. We had rented a little studio in the 11th Arrondissement, with a “kitchenette”, which allowed us to cook a few meals, coffee and breakfast.

Our place was near the Goncourt metro station, which was ideally close to Canal St-Martin, République, as well as the cool Oberkampf area.

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Transit in Lyon (or Gastroville) – May 2012

Posted on January 11, 2013 | 6 Comments

Lyon PanoramaLyon Panorama, view from Notre Dame de Fourvière
©M.Venables

During our brief stop in Lyon, we first stayed at our friends’ house in the Croix Rousse, a hilly area in the old part of town, which used to be working class, home of Lyon’s silk workers, and is now quite trendy. Well my friends and I used to live there, so the hipsters followed… naturally ;) Just joking!

Crepe party

They had organised a little crêpe party for us, thanks to their awesome mini-crêpe machine, which allows everyone at the table to make their own crêpes and the hosts to enjoy themselves, instead of being stuck in the kitchen.

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France snapshots – Romans – May 2012

Posted on January 4, 2013 | 5 Comments

The Visitor

Soooo…. bonjour guys!

It’s been a while indeed! Please forgive my snail pace with regards to writing this blog: this year has been a busy one. But hopefully it will be rewarding with exciting stuff, so stay tuned!

To resume on my French adventures a few months back, after a perfect few days in Marseille, we took the TGV back to my parents’, who live in a little town in the Drôme department. We were pampered and fed lots of good stuff, so much so that I couldn’t face any cheese for a while after that!

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I ♥ Marseille – May 2012

Posted on October 6, 2012 | 3 Comments

My first encounter with Marseille was in my teens, when I started reading Jean-Claude Izzo‘s crime novels: the Marseille Trilogy followed jaded cop Fabio Montale in his quest for justice, amidst deeply anchored corruption, crime, racism… However you could really feel the love of Izzo for his city and its inhabitants and it was contagious. If you like your crime genre, I really recommend you get hold of these books (thank god they were translated into English).

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Corsica – Pigs will fly – April 2012

Posted on September 20, 2012 | 4 Comments

Ok guys, don’t take this the wrong way, but living in a big country like Australia has made me realize how good I had it in France! But before you suggest I go back to where I came from, let me explain: everything in France was within reach, and I didn’t even make the most of it! In 2 hours of train you can experience a completely different scenery, even be in another country. That is why nowadays, whenever I’m in France, I try to visit a new place to make up for it. 

For instance, I had never set foot in Corsica, even though it is a hugely popular holiday destination for French people. It’s not for nothing that it’s called “L’Île de Beauté”: the Isle of Beauty. Indeed, despite a developed tourism, you can still find many unspoilt landscapes, be it pristine beaches, mountains, forests or the bush (“maquis”)… It was high time to fill that gap in my life!

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