It's not too often you associate jockeys with a sweet tooth.
Neil Kearney catches up with Rémi Tremsal, our full-time jockey and part-time salted caramel chef
C: Tell us about how you juggle both being a Jockey and a Caramel maker?
Rémi: My work in the kitchen starts at 9am but that’s not the beginning of my day. As a jockey I wake up at 3am to be at the Mornington racecourse at 4am for trackwork. On a typical day, I am in the kitchen from 9am to 5pm cooking different flavours of caramel. I try to cook 2 to 3 batches a day, depending on the demand. Because it takes time to cook caramel and many steps are involved, I do some packaging and have the orders ready to pick up during the process. Breena is in the office and covers all the Business management & marketing side of the business.
C: What makes your products so delicious?
Rémi: The secret to make the perfect caramel is sourcing the best ingredients, accuracy, not rushing and most importantly passion. I believe that whatever you do turns out successful when you put passion in it.
C: How did you come up with the name of the business "Caramelicious"?
Rémi: It came up to me when I was riding track work one morning, people always after tasting my caramel said huummm so delicious, Caramel delicious = Caramelicious.
C: How much caramel do you make per day?
Rémi: I make an average 30Kg of caramel in a day, unless I have an event to attend or deliveries to do.
C: How long does it take to make a batch?
Rémi: A batch of 15Kg takes approximately 4 hours from preparing the ingredients to sealing the jars.
Q: What make your business so special?
Rémi: I pride myself to do the deliveries because it gives me the chance to meet or catch up with our clients, it is always great to know how our product performs and there is no better way to find out than being on the spot. Some clients appreciate meeting me; the person behind the making of the salted caramel; and have a little chat as well.
C: Why did you move to Australia?
Rémi: After riding for 6 months in Mauritius, where I met lovely people, I wanted to keep travelling, and as Breena spent a year in Perth we thought why not Australia, and we've picked Melbourne as there are races everyday of the year.
C: How you do enjoy your Salted caramel?
Rémi: I am crazy for ice cream, so it’s very easy to say that my favourite way to eat my caramel is with a big bowl of ice cream after dinner in front of the telly.
C: What is your favourite flavour?
Rémi: My favourite flavour of caramel is the Cocoa hazelnut, the one that requires most work as well with the chopping and roasting of the hazelnut.
C. Where can we buy Caramelicious salted caramel?”
Rémi: You can find our caramel in Delicatessen, specialties shops as well as tasting it at different food outlets such as crêperies, ice cream, doughnut makers. Of course we attend markets and special events throughout the year. You can also buy online on our website: www.caramelicious.com.au