New beginnings
As a teenager I was introduced to cake decoration by my home economics teacher, and so the seed was planted that would eventually grow into a career later on in life. After this initial infatuation, my affair with sugar and chocolate developed through cake decoration, truffle preparation and Easter egg making. As a wife, mother and later a professional career woman this love remained a mere hobby, but a number of events would lead to me being trained in Belgium under the watchful eye of a master chocalatier and the opening of my own chocolaterie.
My dream has been to create something unique and special in chocolate, to fully employ my creativity, dedication and skill to produce chocolates of distinction. A number of years ago I was asked to prepare truffles for an event at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival where the President of South Africa was to be the guest of honour. Despite a ridiculous deadline I delivered a product of which I was immensely proud and that fortunately also proved to be immensely popular! I realised that the time was ripe to plunge into qualifying myself as a chocolatier and to learn from the best Belgian chocolate masters.
Finding someone willing to teach me proved to be a tougher challenge than I had anticipated. In South Africa the few chocolatiers were unable to train me, while the well-known chocolate houses also had their own unique obstacles. Even in Europe the chocolate schools demanded years of sacrifice or closed the door due to my age! Committed to proving myself despite such a ridiculous criterion, I eventually found my mentor in Belgium and I went to learn from him for three months at the end of 2007. This proved to be a baptism of fire, with long hours spent acquiring the knowledge and practising the skill until both my mentor and myself were satisfied with the final result.
Upon my return to South Africa I successfully established La Chocolaterie Rococo as the foremost purveyor of fine Belgian chocolate in the Southern Cape. My products embody the sensual delight of the Rococo period, with indulgence and excess being the order of the day. I invite you to share in my dream and my passion for chocolate. I invite you to my chocolaterie.