Mauritius is known for its beautiful beaches and exceptional coral reefs. With her knowledge of the different types of sugar that grow on the island, chef Sandy Scioli provides a real and healthy variety for the palate.
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00:00 These are for sure the healthiest cakes you will eat today.
00:06 So yes, you can have your less sugar cake and eat it.
00:11 These spectacular high tea patisseries at Sugar Beach are low in sugar and follow Chef
00:15 Sani Shiali's Flavors of Change philosophy, reducing the sugar content in her pastry,
00:21 patisseries and desserts all in favor of natural ingredients.
00:26 So you know this is where my passion comes from and especially using sugar responsibly.
00:34 Sugar cane, it's in my DNA.
00:37 You know, I was born near a sugar cane field and my father was working in a sugar cane
00:44 mill.
00:45 Sugar is my story.
00:49 The most important thing you know when I create a recipe is the taste and the balance in the
00:54 sugar.
00:55 It is not you know to remove the sugar.
00:58 Sometimes when you put too much sugar you don't have the real taste of the product.
01:04 The sugar we have in Mauritius is intense so you don't need to put a lot because each
01:12 different sugar has a special role to balance the natural taste of a dessert.
01:19 For example, you know the vanilla, it's the base of several desserts.
01:24 So the demerara sugar will enhance the vanilla taste.
01:30 I have a very good producer in Mauritius.
01:33 His name is Selva and his place is unbelievable and the vanilla is organic.
01:39 The raw ingredients Chef Sani sources for sunlight from across the island help elevate
01:44 flavors to such a degree that adding extra sugar is not needed.
01:49 I love to come here because you know it's resourceful to find you know the special product.
01:55 I can be creative you know.
01:58 I can imagine things and you can have you know good products naturally produced and
02:04 hunt you know for the perfect product with a good supplier that understands you know
02:10 what I'm going to do.
02:13 So he can you know share all his knowledge and he can propose me a lot of ideas.
02:19 So this is the paradise of flavors.
02:24 It may sound like a novel culinary concept, creating desserts with low sugar.
02:29 Not so.
02:30 It is a skill that she mastered years ago when she became the first female pastry chef
02:34 in world-renowned Chef Bernard Lassois' three-star Michelin restaurant in France,
02:38 a three-year apprenticeship that benchmarked her pastry making.
02:46 So this is a crunch made with sweet dough, muscovado sugar, coconut and cocoa butter.
02:55 I created this dessert when I first arrived in Mauritius because I fell in love with the
03:02 papaya and you know especially the taste with the lemon and also with vanilla.
03:07 The papaya you know it's a natural flavor and it's neutral.
03:11 So as you can see here the papaya is quite fresh.
03:15 It's just mixed up with some vanilla, some glaze and that's it.
03:19 It's not cooked.
03:21 So here I'm going to put some vanilla cream.
03:25 So here's some coconut flakes.
03:28 I had in mind you know what I have learned with Chef Bernard Lassois.
03:33 You must not have more than four tastes in a dish.
03:38 I said wow papaya goes very well with lemon, vanilla, tamarind.
03:43 And you have the great color of the papaya which is like orange or even like salmon you
03:48 know it's really nice.
03:50 And then on the top you have crunchy biscuit.
03:55 So here is the yogurt sorbet.
03:57 So I'm going to put some tamarind.
04:06 Chef Sandy's recipe creations for Sun Life Resorts are all about crafting delightful
04:10 pathways for sustainable behavior both in what we consume and from where.
04:15 How do you think?
04:17 It's good?
04:18 Perfect.
04:19 Good choice.
04:20 A perfect match.
04:21 I felt also that I have the duty to come back and to share you know my experience and my
04:27 knowledge.
04:28 I don't want to keep this for myself.
04:30 I think this is very important you know.
04:33 I just want to share it.
04:36 And she did in a spectacular way.
04:39 In February 2023, the Mauritius team she led came 15th in the sought-after World Pastry
04:44 Cup.
04:45 Now Mauritius you know is on the world stage.
04:49 The young generation must continue to develop you know the low sugar trends and it's good
04:54 for your health too.
04:55 Thank you.
04:56 Cheers.
04:56 Cheers.
04:58 Cheers.
04:59 Cheers.
04:59 (upbeat music)