MARGAO: Pratik Roy, a resident of Seraulim, has been a pastry chef for twenty-five years. At 48, he continuously seeks to learn the latest cooking and baking trends while championing his favourite ingredient – chocolate.
“Since the time I joined the hotel industry as a trainee chef, way back in 1997, I have been working with chocolate,” says Pratik. He creates artisanal handmade chocolates like pralines, truffles, and bonbons, along with desserts such as tarts, meringue Swiss rolls, cakes, entremets, choux, puddings, custards, and macarons.
Pratik’s mission is to make five-star quality products accessible to everyone. He emphasises how chocolate is a mood enhancer that appeals to all age groups and complements other ingredients when combined correctly. This year, Pratik and his team celebrated World Chocolate Day for two weeks at their cosy outlet in Margão, showcasing various chocolate forms, flavours, shapes, and techniques. “We have almost 100 products on our menu,” he says.
With a career spanning close to three decades, Pratik has trained under many chocolatiers and international chefs, including stints in Europe, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. His extensive experience in luxury hotels has honed his skills and knowledge.
Pratik highlights the importance of quality ingredients, sourcing from the best suppliers. He uses only couverture chocolate for making pralines and bonbons, ensuring it is tempered correctly for the best shine and snap. For desserts he balances chocolate with other ingredients like fruit and berries to suit the palate, offering options for both bitter and milk chocolate lovers.
For World Chocolate Day, Pratik’s offerings included chocolate pizza, pralines and truffles, milk chocolate and salted caramel tart, and chocolate and hazelnut babka. Some preparations, like pralines, are highly technical and require a step-by-step procedure that takes almost 24 hours to complete.
“I derive great satisfaction and pleasure in making new desserts and chocolate sculptures. It is very challenging, but the surprise and smile on people’s faces after they taste my desserts give me immense satisfaction,” says Pratik, who works about 11 to 12 hours a day.
One of the major problems faced by Pratik is the shortage of chocolate, which has resulted in a 100-fold rise in prices.
“Our customers are not yet ready for such a massive hike; as a result we have to absorb the cost”, he says.
Despite this, he believes in the timeless love for chocolate and highlights the health benefits of dark chocolate, which is packed with antioxidants. “There are several myths associated with chocolates like, it makes you fat or leads to tooth decay. Like everything else, chocolate
also needs to be consumed in moderation – then, the benefits outweigh the cons. Chocolate has been used as a health enhancer and mood booster by the Aztecs, Mayans and many more civilizations, for over 5,000 years,” adds Pratik.