The man behind Choumamé
Clément Jolin was born in 1975 in Marseille. As a man of the sun, naturally, he flies to Australia and then leaves to live and work in Los Angeles, London, and New York before returning to his home country, France. A career as a fashion photographer worldwide and an opportunity are what lead him to change his passion.
The birth of a unique product
Every time he returns to his native Provence, his childhood village in the Var, and more precisely to Barjols, he reunites with a renowned pastry made by the Brunet family. A family of pastry chefs that only the most initiated connoisseurs recognise. Every time he returns from his travels, he falls into ecstasy when facing this Meringue with its whipped cream, a unique experience with each mouthful—a meringue associated with instant pleasure, childhood, family, and joy.
The pastry chef Louis Brunet decides to entrust Clément Jolin with the recipe for Meringue and whipped cream. Know-how that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Passed down through four generations, Clément chose to revive and evolve it. He revisits this recipe, and trial after trial, he refines what is already a delicate, airy, and tasty delicacy to make it even more distinctive and in with our time.
The CHOUMAMÉ meringue with whipped cream was born in 2021, faithful to the original recipe, with a modern twist. In 2020, while the world is slowing down, Clément is taking pastry classes at the Culinary Institute presided by worldrenowned pastry chef Pierre Hermé.
He trained and set up his project, within one year, during an intensive training course, He won the Business Game competition with his memoire on pastry and his key product, the Meringue with whipped cream, now called CHOUMAMÉ.
"This Meringue had become a secret without knowing it.
But it is too exceptional of a dessert to be forgotten...
I have always dreamt of sharing it
with people around me.
The project
An ambitious project can be summed up in a few words: to revive excellent gustative quality pastries that are in danger of disappearing and safeguard a culinary heritage.
Pastry should not be limited to eclairs, macaroons or mille feuilles. Its heritage is rich and, above all, international. It must be protected and shared.
All over the world, pastry specialities are a source of local pride but are known only to the initiated. These recipes have often been handed down from generation to generation and, unfortunately, have little visibility, falling into disuse because the know-how is not passed down. A whole gastronomic heritage is thus facing extinction. The aim is to meet pastry chefs from all over the world to find these gastronomic treasures and safeguard their knowhow.
A culinary heritage that must be modernised in both its characteristics and image
Building a universal culinary memory
Firstly, bringing them back to life by telling their story and then labelling these products under a brand to give them a second life. The aim is to preserve the authenticity of regional products while raising them to a world-class level without compromising on quality or know-how. To offer a Provençal, Lombard, Japanese or Mesopotamian speciality in a single location. A cosmopolitan patisserie would mark the beginning of universal culinary memory.
This project's keywords include heritage, sharing, know-how, authenticity, history, heritage, gastronomy, and culture. The spearhead of the project is a unique product: the Meringue with whipped cream.
A cloud that explodes in your mouth
"A cloud that explodes in the mouth" is how one can describe the Choumamé Meringue with whipped cream. Its unique cooking process, crunchy, melting, and airy, sublimates the Meringue, making it a refined product that reinstates its noble character. Choumamé is a fresh dessert that's accessible to all. On the spot or to take away, this gluten-free product is irresistible due to its taste and texture. Made up of two meringue bases that sandwich the other ingredients together (whipped cream, chocolate, fruit, etc.), it can be made in infinite ways and adapted to tastes and seasons.
A simple, irresistible, and tasty pastry with few ingredients, the Choumamé takes us on a journey. A "conscious" dessert whose production favours small farms, short circuits, and local and organic ingredients.
A product, a story, a unique taste
Linked to a moment of well-being, this revisited pastry is synonymous with both tradition and modernity. The Choumamé concept's essence: a family of pastry chefs who created this Meringue with a unique taste. This culinary heritage almost disappeared, but someone with a passion decided to update the recipe for a successful revival that preserves its authenticity, taste quality and conscious production.
