By Laura Rancie.
Meet Kirsten Tibballs, the little girl who would one day be dubbed the Chocolate Queen, who was only 8 years old when she started baking cakes from home.
It’s the type of story you’ve heard before, take for example legendary Ash Barty who at age 4 started playing at the West Brisbane Tennis Centre, under the watchful eye of a coach who normally didn’t take children but made the exception due to her exceptional hand-eye coordination.
Or Sam Kerr, who started soccer at age 12 then just one year later a future Matildas coach sees her get the ball in her own half and run with it for 70 metres before scoring a goal, against kids much older than her.
The Chocolate Queen is in good company with these other Australian icons who like Kerr at age 12, loved baking so much she enrolled in her first cake decorating class as well as the Dandenong Show in Victoria. By age 15, she was working on her apprenticeship and although initially dabbled in being a Chef she realised immediately that it wasn’t creative enough for her and switched to patisserie.
This is Kirsten Tibballs! "I love what I do, and I love creating. Having started in this career at a very young age, at no time have I felt that I wanted to change or take it in another direction.”
That career she refers to now spans 35 years as one of the world’s best Pastry Chefs who has not only competed in the World Chocolate Masters but also the World Pastry Olympics, where she took out gold. This recognition placed her first in the world for her handmade chocolates.
It was an early Monday morning when I sat down with the sweet lady herself, casually chatting about our love of France, Melbourne and of course ... chocolate.
Kirsten, tell us about your time in Paris as head of the jury of taste in the World Chocolate Masters:
"It’s probably the world’s biggest competition for chocolate and patisserie. Competitors compete in their own country to then represent. After they’ve won in their own country they’ll have about two years to prepare for the World Masters."
Wow! Two years? Describe that process to us:
"It sounds crazy but it’s not dissimilar to sporting preparation. You have time trials, train, practise, try to improve but obviously, it’s with food so once you make the creation, you try to hone and improve it. The product you are creating has to be a natural extension of yourself as you have to have practised enough that you can make the product without thinking. You need to be as fast as you possibly can because time comes into it as well."
In that same trip, Kirsten launched a new chocolate globally. She prepared in Milan and launched in Venice where they had flown in 50 of the world’s best food journalists. Such is the life of a top Pastry Chef and chocolatier. As for where she gets her inspiration, like most creatives – she says it’s all around her with nature as her biggest source. "The different colours of leaves, foliage, butterflies. There’s so much that can inspire there,” she says.
You created a white chocolate brie – where do you go to get new recipe idea such as that unique one?
"I write ideas down. They don’t always work out. But usually, when I’m flying or travelling, I write ideas down in my notes and then put as much info as I can. I like to create things that are not as they seem. So people have a look at it and think wow that’s cheese and crackers, but it’s not really. It’s actually a dessert, for example!"
You have been dubbed the Queen of Chocolate. Do you remember the first time that was used?
"They gave me that title when I was presenting on MasterChef. It was probably around 2014. I was given the title and they’ve used it on MasterChef ever since. Now I have my own TV show called, The Chocolate Queen, so it has certainly stuck. It’s a nice title to have, but I never reflect on it."
When she’s not jet-setting across the world in the name of chocolate, you can find Kirsten in the school she founded. Savour School exists to merge education and inspiration into a platform where pros can master, beginners can dabble and everyone can create the incredible with pastry and chocolate.
One of the reasons Kirsten created Savour School was to bring so much of what she saw and learned on her early trips to France and Belgium, back to Australia.
"In 1998 when I first started going to Europe there weren’t even mobile phones like today, or social media. The world was a bigger place. We relied on magazines in Australia to see what people were doing in Europe. I felt there was a really big gap back then, which has now been reduced.
"The type of product we’re making here in Australia today competes on the same level it does in France. We’re making beautiful products. I think there was a gap and an opportunity to open the school 21 years ago, but social media alone makes it so easy to see what people are doing on the other side of the world. You are no longer waiting six weeks for the magazine subscription to arrive or having to fly over to visit the country to understand it.”
Is there a particular recipe you think all Aussie home cooks should know?
"Lamington is a good one. It’s an easy one and very Australian. You should have that recipe in your repertoire as an Australian."
Naturally, asking a brilliant creative like Kirsten what she has planned, I was always expecting something fun. But yet again, the master has exceeded expectation in terms of drive and passion.
What about a go-to restaurant, when you have a night off?
"I have a few I like – I tend to stick with the same places and don’t eat much cake or pastry outside of work. Locally, I go to a place called Convoy which is nice for breakfast. I like Chancery Lane which is Scott Pickett’s restaurant. I go there quite a lot – I like his style of food."
By the time this interview is published, Kirsten will already be filming season four of her TV show 'The Chocolate Queen', which will air next year. She will also be appearing as a contestant in a new TV show coming out in late October, 'Dessert Masters', where Ten of Australia's greatest Pastry Chefs, chocolate connoisseurs and baking experts will compete for the $100,000 prize and be named the first-ever Dessert Master.
Last of all, for this year anyway, is Kirsten’s new book called ‘Chocolate All Day’.
