At The Pass with Chocolatier Mariane Arruda de Oliveira
Currently
Founder and Chocolatier of Mary's Brigadeiro Handcrafted Chocolates.
Formerly
Human Resource Assistant in a private company in Brazil.
Favourite dish to make right now
Feijoada - traditional Brazilian bean stew with meat.
Last cookbook purchase
Right now I am reading and in love for Confeitaria Escalafobética by Raiza Costa.
Have you read it/tried any recipes
Yes.
One dish or ingredient you’d like to see gone from menus
Margarine and shortening.
And one dish or ingredient that you’re excited about right now and would like to see on more menus
Much more local ingredients, and more information about them in the menus. A dish can tell so many stories, starting with the origin of the ingredients.
Your biggest influences
If could eat at any restaurant in the world
Mocoto Restaurant in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Last thing you ate
Homemade sweet potato soup.
Three must-have ingredients always in your fridge
French butter, cheese and eggs.
Guilty pleasure
Chocolate! :)
Top 3 favourite Toronto restaurants
Maha’s, Union Restaurant, and Defina Pizzeria.
Top 3 favourite Toronto bars
Just two: Cider House and Timothy's Pub.
Go-to drink
Cider House for their Hot Mulled Cider. It's incredible!
One habit you have in the kitchen that you should lose, but can’t seem to shake
I reorganize the space too often - sometimes my team cannot find anything. :/
One habit you have in the kitchen that will inspire young chefs
Discipline.
Hidden talent
Luiza Ferrer, the first young chef who was part of our team.
Best career advice you ever received
I received two important pieces of advice:
The first one was to grow our chocolate business to other levels and channels – i.e. corporate gifts, online store (ship worldwide), export, and events and partnerships with other small businesses.
The second was from my mentor, that we should open a concept store to receive our clients and show them where the products are made, who is behind the scenes - the magic happening during the process - and he was so right!
Worst career advice you ever received
"You should automate 100 per cent of your process by introducing more machines.”
Your advice for young cooks starting out in the business
You can do anything you want, so never let anyone say you cannot. Pay attention to the details, work extra hard, learn from the experts, and always ask for help from people you admire. If you believe in your idea, there will be always good people surround you to support your dream!
