Three months ago, VIAGE was welcoming with arms wide open the Tokyo Art City experience. At the initiative of JETRO, the Japanese organisation for foreign trade, this unprecedented event is now launching an original campaign that will run from March 7 to 19. Its purpose: introducing the Belgian market to the virtues of the Japanese sweet potato. And guess what? VIAGE CHILL is the location chosen by JETRO to display the multiple talents of this purple-dressed imperial root.
There’s nothing new about sweet potato, is there? Well, although you might be familiar with a couple of its varieties, the Japanese kind is still pretty unknown in these parts of the world. We’ve indeed been blessed with the mesmerising taste of the red sweet potato and its orange flesh for a few years now, but we don’t know much yet about its Japanese cousin. Under its purple dress, the Japanese sweet potato features a white flesh that turns golden when cooked. Not to mention the fact that this tubercle from the antipodes comes from the very last country run by a living emperor… That’s something, isn’t it?
Endlessly delicious
Let’s talk about texture! The Japanese sweet potato is smoother and considerably less fibrous than its foreign peers. To make it sweeter, Japanese growers let it ripen amongst steady temperatures and humidity levels. On the palate, you’ll notice notes of chestnut, which makes it a great ally for your sweet preparations. You can eat it plain, with honey, in pastries, as a mousse, a yogurt or an ice cream,… As you can see, options are endless!
Sweet potatoes are ideal for lazy days: just bake, then mash and mix with yogurt, butter or olive oil.
– Yotam Ottolenghi
There’s competition in the kitchen
To shed the perfect light on the Japanese sweet potato, JETRO (the state organisation destined to promote trade and bilateral investments between Japan and the rest of the world) pulled out all the stops! From March 7 to 19, a culinary challenge involving 10 carefully selected Brussels-based pastry Chefs will take place at the VIAGE Chill. Their goal is to create a dessert out of Japanese sweet potato before selling it in their pastry shop. During the course of this campaign, you will be able to savour these unique creations in no less than 12 shops in Brussels.
Obviously, Florian Delhoulle, the VIAGE Chill’s pastry Chef was not lost on this challenge, and even became one of its ambassadors.
I wanted to come up with a simple and balanced cake, not too sweet to be in the trend of today and to keep the vegetable side of the Japanese sweet potato.
– Florian Delhoulle
To honor his ambassador title, he’s made sure to create an exceptional dessert, white-coloured, topped with red, to evoke the Japanese flag. “Something beautiful and simple, that looks like a mochi”, he explains.
To the Japanese sweet potato, our talented Chef paired a typical Belgian fruit, the pear. A savvy mix, embodying the fusion between both Belgian and Japanese cultures. You can get your hands on this limited-edition dessert from March 7 to 19 at VIAGE Chill, Florian Delhoulle’s headquarters. To discover his competitors’ creations as well, head to the following venues: Sasaki (Woluwe-Saint-Pierre), Forêt Noire (Forest), Fine (Brussels and Uccle), Tartes du monde (Uccle), Chouconut (Uccle), Telle mère, telle fille (two shops in Uccle) , Cailler (Uccle), Van Dender (Schaerbeek) et Sandrine & Yatto (Woluwe-Saint-Lambert
Your sweet tooth can win you a prize!
To inaugurate this great Belgian-Japanese challenge, the pastry Chefs’ creations will premiere at VIAGE Chill on March 6 in the presence of our Brussels alderman for economic affairs, Fabian Maingain, as well as the press and the other contestants. From March 7, the campaign will open to the public so you can finally get a taste of these tailor-made pastries that make two cultures collide with finesse. And to make this event even crispier, all the gourmets reading this are kindly invited to take part in our poll to win several great prizes, such as two tickets to the Japanese spa Atsukan inside the Jam Hotel, topped with two massages. We suggest you take a chance, while waiting to delight your taste buds with Florian Delhoulle’s special treat!