SALAD STORIES #5

 

Happy Sunday my kitties!

I'm giving you the last but not least recipe of the week for lunch, "finger food" with Marine, the creator of en une bouchée. During my first meeting with Marine, I didn't actually meet her but her creations during an event she catered. A real treat, I'm often disappointed by petits fours and other finger food... But not this time, I couldn't believe it and I literally squatted the buffet (so chic...). I took her business card and kept it safe. 

And one day, I worked for a paint brand who asked me to imagine a buffet, from the scenography to what was in the plates and I immediately thought about this little business card, called Marine to see if she'd be interested and she was! A great encounter, I wanted to introduce her to you because I find her brave and I love people who give themselves the means to their ambition, who try no matter what to live up to their passion... I find it inspiring, especially in Marine's case, she made a career change from an industrial biology engineer to opening a restaurant of their own... I think it is a great example! 

And little story... For this job we needed a pink desert (ok, that's not to hard...) but it became quite difficult because we didn't want any cupcakes or macarons... And Marine offered to make her specialty, the "Strawberry Mojito" choux buns: killer alert!... For a perfect lunch break, rendez-vous au Marché couvert Saint-Martin, 31 rue du Chateau d'Eau, 75010 Paris.

 

 

• Hi Marine, can you introduce yourself quickly ?

I'm Marine, 28, ex industrial biology engineer, creator of en une Bouchée. I talk a lot and despite trying not to I'm really fond of food! I'd like Paris to eat all my little choux buns! 

• Tell us a little bit more about how "En une bouchée" was born. 

I'm a trained engineer in industrial biology. I worked 2 years as commercial engineer B to B in the cosmetic industry. In april 2012 some private events made me think and consider reorienting myself towards catering. To be sure about my choice I wanted to live the experiment from the inside. I worked at a restaurant (La Véraison, 15th arrondissement) while working at my regular job. For 3 months I worked as a commercial engineer during the week and in the kitchen during the weekends and it never was constraining, I felt good in the kitchen. That's what confirmed my will of changing job. It's at the end of september 2012 that I left my firm without any precise idea of what I was going to do next. I was looking for some job in catering but with no diploma and only my weak experience, it was hard. And I was used to host at home, to organise buffet dinner and drinks with my friends, it started from a desire, a belief more than from a purely thought-through idea. The "Finger Food" made sense in our plate so I took the risk because I had nothing to lose. It's during november/december that the idea was fully developed, that I found the name "En une bouchée" and we know how it went. Since December 2012, I created the company " En une bouchée " in Paris, which is a Finger Food catering service.

• What precisely is "En une bouchée"?

You forget protocol! You eat with your fingers without guilt. "En une bouchée" is a new way of savoring. The FINGERFOOD: gastronomy on your fingertips with a leitmotiv: 0% guilt. Snacking isn't a sin, it's in ! 

 

• What is your first culinary "Madeleine de Proust"?

A sugary croque-monsieur with brioche and milk chocolate! MIAM !!! Thanks mom.  

• I really want to know the genesis of the raspberry mojitos choux buns, what a wonderful idea! 

Ha ha ha the MOJITO choux buns... and more particularly the strawberry mojito! I already had the lemon pie choux bun on the menu... it is a derivative. I love mojitos, so I thought I'd make a lime cream, hint of mint, ginger (that's a secret!) and a wee bit of rum, and in the end that wasn't more complicated than a lemon pie! And then the raspberry mojito came by itself, it is my favorite cocktail (strawberries or raspberries but more especially raspberries, I am an absolute FAN of red berries). 

 

 

• What is your favorite ingredient, the one you put everywhere not even thinking about it?

Curry... and spices in general! Espelette pepper, cumin, nutmeg, 4 spices, everything! With two pinches, you can transform a dish!  

• What meal do you cook when you don't feel so good, your comfy meal?

 So, lately, I don't cook for myself anymore. But if somebody would want to cheer me up because I wouldn't be so well, he'd just have to make me... a good soup, a salad, a bowl of berries/yogurt! And hop, to bed!

 

 

• What is your detox tips before and/or after the holidays?

Same as when I don't feel so good: soup/sala and the of course!!!!

• Last september you were opening your shop in la Pépinière du Village, this is a new professional adventure, what could we wish you for 2014 that would be crazier than that ? 

 I wish "En une bouchée" to keep going that way in 2014, to grow a little more every day and why not to become the new parisian reference for choux buns!