scaled.DSC01789 560x420 Interview with Pascal of Pralin Chocolatier

Interview with Pascal Bulinckx, owner of Pralin Chocolatier in Sandnes and author of Sjokoladeboken.

Hello Pascal, could you please tell us about yourself?scaled.ballong 5 250x181 Interview with Pascal of Pralin Chocolatier
Well, I’m a chef that graduated in Belgium where I went 7 years in the Hotelschool and management. After that I wanted to see the world and started on a cruise-ship, there I met my Norwegian wife – so I came here. I’m a person that needs challenges to keep me focused, that’s why I took up my project to be a specialist in Chocolate, I’ve got hooked by the challenge.

When did you start working with chocolate?
I grew up in my parents’ bakery and pastry, but it was after my studies that I went to a professional chocolate course at Callebaut in Brussel. I wrote a chocolate book ‘Sjokoladeboken’ and started with courses 5 years ago.

Where is your shop/cafe located?
We’re located in the basement at Kirkegate 4 in Sandnes Sentrum.The name of our little shop is ‘SJOKOLADE VERKSTED’. This location is perfect for us as the walls are so thick that the temperature is stable all year long.

What products do you have for sale in the Café ?
We started the shop 4 months ago and are building up our products and range. We sell Handmade Belgian Chocolates, chocolate in pallets and all the equipment you need to make them yourself at home. We’re making a lot of present packages for private and firms. And with time we will sell bakery products, cakes and homemade ice cream.

What are the Café’s hours?scaled.roasted marsipan kuler 6 250x166 Interview with Pascal of Pralin Chocolatier
We are open Wednesday – Friday 11.00-17.00 and on Saturday 10.00-15.00

Do you offer any chocolate course?
We are the one that give the most courses in Norway about chocolate, last year we had 600 people at our courses. We do courses in English, French, Dutch, and Norwegian. We’re doing also a lot of workshops for firms and we started now as well with parties for children. We can do courses and workshops up to 100 people at the time. We offer courses in several levels, so anyone can decide the difficulty, degree and time used.

Would you please tell us about the English course you offer?
The English course in a starting course, start with chocolate. Here the participants make their own chocolate-bowl and 7 chocolates, I tell them also the history and the different ways to make chocolate. The participants are doing everything themselves.

Do you offer any other services?
We rent out fountains in different sizes for weddings and parties, and we also do catering with our chocolates, heard about chocolates tapas?
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We see you have a book, would you please tell about it?
The book is a project when I made some chocolates for the prince of Norway HKH Haakon and HKH Mette Marit. I was frustrated that I couldn’t find all the ingredients – that’s why I used the course knowledge and changed all the ingredients with ingredients you find in your local store. Also I explain in the book what you AREN’T suppose to do to be able to work with chocolates, not all writers do this.

Anything else that you would like to add about Pralin Chocolatier?
The shop is new and an interesting little place in Sandnes. We’re doing all the production there, by hand. The ‘Sjokoladeverksted’ is coming in my little workshop where I share all I know about this dangerous, delicious and natural product.

Thanks Pascal for the great information, we wish you the best of luck with Pralin Chocolatier. We look forward to stopping into the Café for some yummy treats!

Expats, make sure to check out the Pralin Chocolatier website for more information.

Interview with Pascal of Pralin Chocolatier

About Fonda LaShay

Fonda is an American who has been living in Stavanger since July of 2008 with her Norwegian samboer. She enjoys tea, visiting with friends, music, taking photos and traveling. She loves the rain, but really dislikes when her feet get wet - this is always challenging since it rains so often in Stavanger. Follow Fonda LaShay on Google+ Fonda is a design blogger - blogging about design, architecture, photography, and music. Check out her blog!