Kevin Lacote, 39, worked at Hugo & Victor, worked alongside three-star chefs Glenn Viel and Yannick Alléno, before launching his tea room in Paris in 2016. In his book Rawpublished by Flammarion in October, he develops his vision of pastry, without coloring but strong in taste.
“Kara Damia, a fusion of the words “caramel” and “macadamia”, has been the house’s best-seller since its opening seven years ago. When I tried to stop it, after a month and a half, people said to me: “Ah! no, we must continue, it’s killer!” I believe that it is the customer who chooses. The Kara Damia is therefore still there, like the Ispahan of Pierre Hermé.
I developed its first version when I was pastry chef at the mountain restaurant La Table du Kilimanjaro, in Courchevel (Savoie), alongside Glenn Viel, who won his second star at that time. I was asked to create a sweet break for people returning from skiing. I immediately thought of a caramel tart: for me, it’s really comfort after exercise. I created it in a large format to share, with half-salted caramel, caramel mousse, and almond biscuit. She was very successful. Caramel is addictive, it brings back childhood memories, the candy wrapped in paper that grandmother gives after school.
An individual “entretart”
When I opened my pastry shop, I wanted to rework this cake. Already, I have changed its format for an individual “entretart”, that is to say a cake between the dessert and the tart, which can be eaten outside, with the hands, but which has different textures from mousse, shortbread, biscuit… And then, I’m a fan of Häagen-Dazs macadamia ice cream, and I wanted to rediscover this taste that you don’t often find in pastries, because the macadamia nut doesn’t is not easy to work with and expensive. I also added a little coconut to enhance the caramel and emphasize the regressive side. I combine all the tastes in my head, I don’t draw anything, I don’t write anything. I do a test, sometimes I adjust the densities, and then that’s it!
My pastry has a simple visual, so as not to give false hope. It doesn’t have to be too good either, too promising. Otherwise, we are disappointed. I’m just trying to add a little elegance and make sure you know what’s in the cake when you look at it. The Kara Damia has three elements: a chocolate ring to symbolize the milk chocolate-caramel mousse; caramel icing for the caramel; and the macadamia nut placed on top. Well, OK, the coconut is hidden, it’s the little surprise, the Kevin Lacote touch! Here, it plays a bit of a seasoning role, it’s what makes you want to add another spoonful, to finish the cake.
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