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Chocolatiers who fell in love with TREHA®.
East meets West - a trend to incorporate chocolate in traditional Japanese sweets, "Wagashi"
In this blog, we touch on diverse topics about Japanese food cultures, practices together with the culinary secret, TREHA®, and its important role in the Japanese food industry. We hope our blog helps you obtain in-depth knowledge of Japanese cuisine and the science behind it, which is hard to find elsewhere.
What is the use of less sweet sugar in chocolate?
You may think of chocolate with TREHA® as a somewhat unexpected combination. TREHA® enhances chocolate and cacao products by creating a pleasant melt-in-your-mouth texture in products like ganache, or helping chocolate sponge to rise well. Just like the perfect combination of fruit with TREHA® whose low sweetness brings out the natural flavor of fruits, TREHA® goes well with cacao, which is also a fruit.
In 2018, we gave a presentation at a seminar held by Relais Desserts, the France-based international association of pâtisseries, and through this, TREHA® became recognized by distinguished pâtissiers and chocolatiers from across the globe. We hope you will enjoy using TREHA® to elevate your baking with chocolate!
September 2018, at the autumn seminar of Relais Desserts held at the National Superior School of Pastry in Yssingeaux, France. Most of the chefs were introduced to TREHA® for the first time and were interested in how TREHA® could enhance their baking. In April 2019, Hayashibara, the manufacturer of TREHA®, became the first Japanese company to be a Premium Partner of Relais Desserts. TREHA® is recognized for its ability as an ingredient to improve the quality of French pastry and desserts.
Chef Sébastien Bouillet, one of the world's most celebrated chefs, is a TREHA® user.
La maison Sébastien Bouillet, which has its main shop in Lyon, France, is a renowned French pâtisserie that is also a member of Relais Desserts. His sweets are brimming with his artistic ideas and his creativity is known throughout the world. We are honored to receive the following comments:
"TREHA® was a valuable discovery for me. There is no such ingredient in France, and I was impressed when I first found that TREHA® in Japan that covers the disadvantages of sugar.
When in Japan, I learned how to use TREHA® to maintain and enhance quality, and then I started to incorporate it into my own recipes.
I am very delighted with TREHA®."
Interview with Chef Kohei Ishida of Sébastien BOUILLET Japon
Chef Ishida of Sébastien BOUILLET Japon is also another pastry chef who is an admirer of TREHA®. After training at Aigre Douce, one of the finest and most popular French pâtisseries in Tokyo, and in Luxembourg and Belgium, Kohei returned to Japan to work at Arnaud Larher Japan, and is now a chef at Sébastien Bouillet Japan. A testament to his skill, all the pâtisseries that Kohei has worked in are distinguished members of Relais Desserts. He won second place prize in the International French Pastry Contest in 2019.
We proudly share the content of the interview with Chef Ishida in October 2021.
How did you first learn about TREHA®? What made you start using it?
I had known about TREHA® since way back. However, I did not use it because it was not formulated in the recipes of my patisserie which I worked previously. I had a chance to visit application laboratory of Nagase Food Ingredients, the manufacturer of TREHA®, and they introduced how to use TREHA® to me. I started to use TREHA® in my recipes for the International French Pastry Contest in 2019.
How often do you use TREHA®?
Almost every day. I use TREHA® for fruits jam, fruit jellies (pâte de fruits), mousse, German buttercream (crème mousseline).
Do you take advantage of TREHA® for extending shelf-life?
TREHA® maintains the quality of mousse and fruits jellies by reducing syneresis. I realize that TREHA® also improves freeze-thaw stability of my products. As a result, TREHA® improves shelf-life of my products.
Click here for the recipe for his beautiful petit gateâu "Le Hommages" (pictured below).
Wagashi (Traditional Japanese sweets) + Chocolate
Chocolate is not traditionally used in Wagashi, but recently, incorporating the essence of Western sweets into Wagashi has been on-trend; chocolate has been one of the most
in-demand flavors in a modish Wagashi. When using couverture chocolate for a more authentic flavor, its richness in cacao may unable to retain the shape of certain Wagashi.
TREHA® expands the possibilities of these Wagashi, acting as a bridge between Japanese and Western style sweets. For example, "Chocolate Buns (Manju)" and "Japanese style Mendiant (Wa Mendiant)*" (pictured below) will allow you to discover and enjoy a new variety of sweets that fuses both Japanese and Western styles.
*Ganache cream made of couverture chocolate is cooled and set, and placed on monaka, a crispy wafer. It is decorated with walnut, pistachio, and an orange peel on top. This creates a delicious contrast in silky smooth mouthfeel of the ganache cream and the light and crispy texture of monaka.
The five benefits of CACAO plus TREHA® are our next topic. Please look forward to the next posting!
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We regularly update the blog about the food culture of Japan, where TREHA® was discovered for culinary applications.
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