Hyoju Park

Hyoju: I was surprised when you asked Rong for an interview, because I feel like I'm not really popular yet.

It seems like the social media for Madeleine de Proust is going really well. When you specialize in something these days, I think people go crazy for it and then there's a story behind it.

True. I heard you're French teacher.

I am a French teacher. I've actually got a PhD in French and in my honours year I studied Proust and so I love the Proust story about biting into a tea cake and being transported to another time. When I saw your Instagram post, I thought, here's someone that understands the Madeleine.

Thank you. Because actually I didn't know the name until our design company came up with it and they said that Proust refers to nostalgia and good memories. I wanted to do that through the dessert; bring up good memories. It was the first time I had heard about it and it felt like our story.

Were you not going to make Madeleines in particular?

Yes, we wanted to make madeleines, but we take other desserts and change them into the form of a madeleine. For example, I love corn. I feel as though the corn in Australia is sweeter than my country and more refreshing. I like corn, so I thought, why don't we make a corn dessert? But what about we make it look just like corn. And then we made that into the

madeleine form.

Wow. That's quite fascinating because the madeleine is in a particular form, a shell form and you have to have the right tin.

We order the tin from Japan, they make it to order, custom make the tin. When we order, they start to make it. It takes a few months to make it. We had to wait for them for a while. They are really specialized. Their line is very obvious. It's a very sexy line. So we felt like, we need this to make our madeleine more special. Every single detail is exactly what we want and what we need. And then even the flour itself, we import it from Japan. There's a specific type of flour which is very fine and low in protein, so it's more suitable for the cake. We tested thousands of recipes to make that happen. Normally if you dont eat a madeleine straightaway, it's a bit dense because it's high in butter and sugar as well. But we wanted to make a light airy tea cake so people can eat as many as they want and not just one.

They're a big thing in France. So it's interesting to hear you're getting the mould and the flour from Japan. Obviously it originated in France and school kids eat them after school and you can actually buy a big bag of them from the supermarket. They are somehow just as good from the supermarket. But maybe I've got fond memories because I love everything about France. Maybe they're not that good, but they're certainly not the same as yours. Yours are very light and airy.

One of my very close French friends who I met here and we used to work together, she would always talk about when she finished school, when she get home, her mum made either a crepe or madeleines, so just from the oven. The madeleine is the best when it is straight from the oven, and she described it as a very fond childhood memory.

Very nostalgic.

Yes, she didn't expect that the madeleine could be a fancy item.

No, that's right. You do the classic madeleine, and then how many different varieties?

Every weekend we have fresh baked madeleines. Every 30 minutes a tray comes out, so $4, for a hot freshly baked madeleine. Then we have 12 different range from $6 to $14. It all depends on how much work is in it. The $6 classic line, like Yuzu and chocolate, we also supply to Market Lane, they are very simple, but it's very airy and then good and strong in flavour. Yuzu, brown butter and leatherwood honey. Theres no filling, its just simple. The second line has a filling, for example, the SSUK, the black sesame and pandan, and then there's a golden nugget, which are all flavours linked to our nostalgic memory. Pandan is from my partners hometown. He grew up eating pandan, so it is his memory. Then the SSUK; my grandma always made a rice cake with ssuk, or mugwort, so it's very special to me. And then my black sesame, I love black sesame cheesecake. I used to make a lot when I was in London. So I thought I would incorporate that flavour into the madeleine? For the golden nugget, Australia had a Gold Rush and when found the gold and if the gold piece was big enough, they would call it a nugget. We wanted to bring Australians memory into it as well. Then there's pistachio and coffee espresso and the corn. This third collection is more prestige, there is a lot more handwork. For example, for the Tipsy Arabica, we make the coffee cake and then coffee syrup and then we fill it with the coffee and espresso ganache. And then we make it look like an espresso bean and dip it in chocolate to balance up the flavour. Then we dust with cacao powder and then we blowtorch it to look like just a coffee bean.

Oh, I see. That's a lot.

The prestige line has a lot of work behind it, so we can't produce too much, but we still want to show people that this is what you are able to get from here.

How long would it take from start to finish to make the coffee one?

Up to three days. For example, we need to freeze the cream to carve it. So we can't do it that the morning. On the first day, we bake and then pour over the syrup, then fill with the ganache. The second day we make the cream and we pipe it on to give it its shape and then we also carve it. And then the third day in the morning, we dip it in a glaze, then dust it, then blowtorch it ready to go to the customers. It's a lot of work.

And then the customer just gobbles it down really quickly. No! We need to sit and savour them of course. They say that French people eat with their senses. We need to first of all look at it and really think, that's amazing. Then pick it up and feel the texture, smell it, then taste it and take our time with it, because that's a work of art.

I love the people who know how to appreciate the food and the work behind them.

Of course. But I'm sure people are taking lots of photos. So that helps.

They really enjoy taking photos. Especially the prestige line. They look at the display, especially the corn and they try to poke it to see whether it is real or not. I pipe each kernel one by one.

What's the most popular one so far?

Oh, I would say the corn is sold out every single day. Actually everything is sold out, but the corn sells out the fastest because we can't produce too much of it because it takes so long. And then the Earl GreyDulcey, I think that's a nostalgic flavour of Australia. It's Early Grey and they like the white chocolate. Its caramelised white chocolate on the outside. They really love it when they have it. Those two are really popular.

How big is your team?

At the moment in the kitchen, there are four people including myself. But sometimes Rong comes and helps when it's near closing time, so five people.

So you're the owner and chef?

Yes, I'm the owner and chef. And then Rong, my partner is a owner and he does everything. He does the accounting. He's in charge of the front of house and then he helps in the kitchen. Its a small business where we do everything.

Absolutely. And where were you before here?

We rented a kitchen, a coworking kitchen in Footscray and Collingwood. We made it there and then we sold it once a week to people who would come and pick them up.

Where did it all start for you? Have you always been a pastry chef or were you a chef as well?

Both of us studied culinary art management. We studied in London. Both of both of us were chefs. Then Rong did more hot kitchen. And then since he moved to Australia, he is more into pastry.

You studied in London, but where are you both from originally?

I'm from Korea and he is from Malaysia.

Did you meet in London?

Yes, we were classmates.

That's a good story. Why London?

I wanted to go somewhere where I could use English. I wanted to go to France, but I couldn't speak French. That's why I chose London because London is a big city. There are always things happening. But actually I quite like that I was at London instead of France, because although I was in London, I met so many French pastry chefs. My chef was half French, half English and he told me everything. What he taught me was French style in English.

Then did you work in London as well?

I did an internship, and it went really well. Then I kept working until I graduated. At the time we didn't have a visa after the student visa, so I had to come back.

Then why Australia?

We were looking for the third country where we can speak English and stay together and that has a gastronomy industry. Then Melbourne was the place that we thought about it. So I came first and then he came one year later.

What is it about pastry or about desserts that you like?

I love eating sweets. I'm a big sweet tooth. Whenever I work, I have a free reward, which is a yummy dessert, which was the biggest motivation in my life. I eat less cake than before because I feel like if I want to work more, I need to be fitter to deal with the chefs life.

Then also, I'm happy when people say, oh, I love your dessert. That makes me happy. That's my key motivation because whenever people comeand say, oh, I tried this and it is amazing, I love this, it makes all the hard work pay off when I see their smile. I like that I can make other people happy.

That's great. You mentioned being fit and I think that's a really big thing for chefs. You're on your feet all day. What time do you start here? Because it's a daytime business, but you probably start and finish before and after your opening hours, do you?

The kitchen starts normally around 8-8.30am. The finish depends on when our work finishes because the staff work only an eight-hour shift. As owners, we want to think about the welfare of the staff. So we let them work eight hours and then they go home and we finish off. Yesterday we finished at 8 or 9 o'clock.

At least you're together. That's something. You're not missing out on each other. But what do you do for that wellbeing aspect for yourself? I suppose it's a new business, so that might be hard.

It's a bit hard to look after myself at the moment. I'm busy. We look after this business to let it run and then we can pay the staff. Thats the key thing at the moment because I have never done it before. I really want to make it work. We want to do good things and do it well. Our focus at the moment is how can we pay the staff and make a good environment for them to work better? We try to make it a happy place to work. For example, yesterday was one of our staff's birthday. So we ordered sandwiches and we ate together and then had cake together. Making other people happy makes us sustainable. That's what I feel.

You've had some amazing experiences. It's quite cinematic. You've moved from Korea to London, met your partner, you've come to Australia, you are making these beautiful cakes and making everyone happy. What would your advice be to a young person who wants to be a chef?

Oh, actually I have a really interesting story because before I went to London to study, I went to university to study English literature. I liked it, but my parents wanted that as well. Previously I had wanted to go to culinary school. But my parents are Asian so they preferred that I have a more stable job than chef because they know how hard that life would be. In Asia, if you work with your body, you call it a blue collar job, which is harder. They preferred me to have a white collar job. I agreed with it at the time that becoming a chef wouldnt be easy. So I told them that I would follow what they wanted and I would study. And then my first part-time job was after I finished the Korean SAT was in the kitchen and I fell for it. Whenever I was in the kitchen, I felt alive. I loved the tension and I thought, this is what I need to do for my life, otherwise I'll regret it. I listened to my parents, but I'm a bit stubborn as well. I told them I wanted to be a chef. Obviously, they said no. I told them I wanted to prove that this was not just one-time excitement. I wanted to prove it. I told them to give me one year to do it and if I could prove it, they could send me abroad. So I did one year and then they allowed me to go abroad. So, I would say to young people, if they have something they want to do, I really want them to follow that thought. They need to prove themselves. Not just about things they want to do, no, it doesn't work like that, because kids need parents support. Parents need to agree with it as well. And then I feel like sometimes you need to persuade yourself as well. Just like not the initial feeling, but you need to know whether you are able to do that. I feel like doing well is good, but I needed to know I was better than other people, that is also important as well. At first I worried a lot whether I had talent or not.

When I went to the UK, I met so many chefs and they started at a really young age, like 14, 16, and I was 21. When I met them, they were already really good. They were at a higher level than me. They were so fast, they had so much knowledge. I asked myself, whether I was able to beat them in competition? I knew I couldnt then, but in a few years if I kept going and kept pushing myself, then I would learn more about it. So I kept doing it. The more you do, the higher you go. You have to really want it. You have to prove to yourself and to your parents or whoever. And then you have to believe in yourself that you can achieve it.

Madeleine de Proust, 253 Lygon Street, Carlton