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Material Alchemy

- TREND 4 -
Material Alchemy

Raw matter, sourced from nature, as the starting point.

 

Through fermentation, infusion, or crystallisation, the ingredient transforms with precision and reveals a new sensory dimension.

Jonathan Chapuy

Jonathan Chapuy

ArchiTextures: Chocolate, Pear & Meadowsweet

“This dessert reveals the intense personality and fruity acidity of Mayan Red 80% chocolate, paired with the sweetness of Comice pear and floral notes of mountain-foraged meadowsweet.

I designed the dessert as a study in texture and temperature. Cacao nibs deliver a sharpened composition, while tuiles define the structure, bringing clarity and cohesion to the whole.”

Mayan Red 80% chocolate showcased through ganache, whipped ganache, flourless biscuits, gavottes, cacao nibs, and tuiles, complemented by caramelized pear, pear chips, chocolate brick pastry sheets, meadowsweet ice cream, and a final pour of chocolate sauce.

Executive Pastry Chef, Four Seasons, Hotel Megève

João Damaso

João Damaso

Crystallised Earth

“This dessert explores the transformation of raw matter while preserving the original taste of each ingredient.

I work with simple materials with precision, without altering their identity: bread, buckwheat, kale, cabbage. With Nica Brown 70% at the heart of the composition, the chocolate gains both subtlety and intensity.”

Nica Brown 70% chocolate crémeux anchors the composition. A bitter crumble of cocoa, roasted almonds, Mayan Red cacao nibs and burnt kale builds depth. Puffed buckwheat and bread miso caramel create contrast, while roasted black soy ice cream and stout fudge cake add toasted richness. Crystallised savoy cabbage delivers a mineral-like finish.

Pastry Chef for Fallow, Roe & Fowl, London

Federico Andreini

Federico Andreini

Methexis

“I work with friction, drawn to ingredients at their most unstable, treating single-variety chocolate as a living matter shaped by fermentation and time.

This dessert is my artistic interpretation of the evolution of cacao and its stages of transformation, translated into a Mediterranean sensory language.”

Mayan Red 80% expressed through cacao dolceforte sauce, fermented shoyu-marinated apple, Mayan Red 62% water tuile, and umami-forward preparations; oxidized hazelnut sorbet, floral gel of rose and marigold, Maldon salt.

Pastry Chef, Napoli
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