Chef Santa

“Christmas is our busiest time of the year,” says Regis. “Our holiday desserts are very detailed and time-consuming. Luckily, I enjoy making them!”

Regis Monges, Executive Pastry Chef at Grand Hyatt Macau’s mezza9, bears no physical resemblance to Santa Claus. But he does have a cheery, generous disposition, and the lively kitchen where he and his team are working hard to prepare for the holidays does put me in mind of Santa’s workshop. The things they’re making are going to make a lot of people happy—starting with me.
“Christmas is our busiest time of the year,” says Regis. “Our holiday desserts are very detailed and time-consuming. Luckily, I enjoy making them!”
Regis stands over a whirring mixer as he talks, keeping a close eye on the egg whites that he’ll use in one of his special, East-West confections. “I’m making green tea nougat,” he says. “I love working with different ingredients, especially new ones I’ve discovered while living in Asia.” Firing up a blowtorch, he passes the flame back and forth across the outside of the mixing bowl, explaining that, in order to get just the right consistency for the nougat, the egg whites need to be dried out a bit.
Regis tosses in whole almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios, scrapes in a pod’s worth of Madagascan vanilla seeds, and drizzles fresh honey into the thickening paste. A green cloud billows up as he upends a bowl of matcha—fine green tea powder—into the mix. When it’s all thoroughly blended, he presses the sticky nougat into a mold.
After it has set, Regis cuts the nougat into bite-sized bonbons, and I help him wrap them in small sheets of cellophane. Regis pops one into his mouth. I do the same. It’s soft and chewy, crunchy with nuts, and deliciously sweet. Before I know it, I’ve eaten two more.

Make your Christmas treats healthy with pistachio nuts, which are high in fiber and low in fat. Because of their high nutritional value and long storage life, pistachios used to be popular with explorers and traders, especially those travelling the Silk Road between China with the West.

“I’m a pastry chef because I like to eat sweets,” says Regis, grinning as he bites into another chunk of nougat. “Maybe I like them a little too much!”
Prudently, he moves the tray out of reach. He then draws a piece of paper from his pocket and, with a concentrated expression, begins to read.
“What’s that?” I ask. “Your list of who’s been naughty and who’s been nice?”
“That’s right. And if I find you on the naughty side, no bûche de Noël for you!”
Regis is referring to the traditional French cake known in English as a Christmas log. Many variations exist; all are cylindrical cakes, made to resemble fireplace logs, often complete with bark-like frosting, powdered sugar for snow and realistic edible details like leaves or mushrooms. Regis’ version is made with three layers: green tea biscuit, blackcurrant cream, and green tea and white chocolate mousse.
As Regis slides a large tray of baked biscuit from the oven, the kitchen fills with the wonderful aromas of almonds and hazelnuts. I inhale slowly and deeply through my nose; when you’re hanging out with a great pastry chef, simply breathing can become a true delight.

The dessert kitchen at mezza9 is a dangerous place for anyone with a sweet tooth. To avoid greedily eating everything in sight, try keeping your hands busy with work. Just keep in mind that the more you help, the faster the delicious temptations will multiply.

With a long pastry blade and expert flicks of the wrist, Regis covers the biscuit with a thick layer of blackcurrant cream. White chocolate and matcha have been slowly melting together on the stove. Regis whips in egg whites to create a velvety green mousse, which he then pours into a rounded mold. After carefully nestling the cream-coated biscuit into the soft embrace of the mousse, he flips the mold over.
“I love my job,” says Regis. “When I was younger, I couldn’t believe people actually got paid to do this.”
He pipes swirls of green tea ganache onto the log, and tops it all off with a colorful assortment of meringue mushrooms, red currants, white chocolate snowflakes, and ice-like flecks of real silver. Standing back, Regis gives his creation a final once over and nods with satisfaction.
After I tell Regis that it’s the loveliest and most festive bûche de Noël I’ve ever seen, he assures me that, as far as he knows, my name has not appeared on any disqualifying naughty lists, and that, after the bûche has set for a moment, I can eat all I want. Even the real Santa rarely made me so happy.