Pudding for the people: Jacuzzi’s huge mousse
(Picture: Press handout)The first signs of what might be dubbed “the mousse movement” can be traced to November of last year. Parisian restaurant Chez Janou — already popular for its bentwood chairs and vintage posters, for its duck and oysters, for the Frenchness of it all — was the star of a six-second clip showing a waiter, a giant bowl, and a ladle of chocolate mousse. TikTok drooled, and suddenly Chez Janou was a phenomenon, as views of its sweet stuff ticked over nine million views.
The money shot comes after the ceremonial bowl of chocolate goodness is presented to the table, when the mousse is plopped onto a plate by a waiter. What’s better? Diners can have as much they’d like — until they’re either full or feeling nauseous. Chez Janou are tight-lipped on the recipe but say, simply, “in mousse we trust.”
It’s easy to see why: before the viral video, they’d already had another dollop of online fame. Social media superstar Noah Beck (@noahbeck) visited the restaurant in the summer and took to his nine million Instagram followers with the caption “chocolate mousse supremacy.” Just under 500,000 likes followed. No surprise that when Paris Fashion Week came around last month, show-goers including models Gage Gomez (@im_gage) and Vinnie Hacker (@vinniehacker) made sure to try the mousse for themselves, too.
That nine-million view video didn’t need a star to go viral, though. It came from Nikoletta Stamati (@nikoletta.st), who told the Standard that her videos and posts usually “hardly get 100 likes.” When her clip took off, she was shocked. “I guess people are more obsessed with chocolate mousse than I ever imagined,” she laughs.
Chez Janou might be the star, but there are others involved, too. Em Sheldon (@emshelx), who has more than 100,000 TikTok followers, scored 200,000 views for her pick of “the top chocolate mousses in Paris” —Janou placed third, beaten by bistro Le Bon Georges and brasserie Le Petit Lutetia. In some consolation to Janou, Sheldon named it as her “best view of 2022” — and racked up another 900,000 views in the process. Sheldon says mousse is “addictive, delicious and a bit different from all the heavy pastries that we are seeing everywhere at the moment.”
TV chef and founder of Life Kitchen, Ryan Riley, has a different theory on the dish’s recent resurgence in popularity: “When the world is rough, isn’t chocolate always the answer?” he says. “Its prevalence in our childhood is comforting and sweet and reminds us that everything will be okay.”
The experts weight in
Mousse, meaning “froth” or “foam” in French, first gained popularity in the Thirties when chocolate puddings in general were becoming increasingly sought-after. It’s a popularity that has largely remained steadfast. “It’s a timeless classic, that’s loved by everyone regardless of age,” says Bake Off: The Professional’s judge Cherish Finden. “It ticks so many boxes — it’s airy and light yet intense in flavour and feels a little indulgent, plus it simply melts in the mouth.”
Certainly the humble dish has some stellar fans, Hélène Darroze among them. “I have a very sweet tooth and can’t resist anything with chocolate,” she says. “Cooking is speaking about my life, my emotion in life, something that comes from within me, and chocolate mousse is a dish of my childhood.”
Darroze is not the only one to have lifelong connections to the dish. “I love chocolate mousse, it was always a favourite treat as a child. It’s still one of my favourites and always hits the spot. My mum made a great one,” remembers Michel Roux.
The same is true for Raymond Blanc. “Maman Blanc’s mousse au chocolat is the lightest, most delicious mousse I have ever tasted,” he recalls. The trick to getting it right? “The quality of the chocolate will define the quality of the mousse.”
Pierre Koffmann likewise has a soft spot for the dish and, just as Blanc and Roux do, considers mousse to be a “family dish, usually served in a big bowl in the middle of a table where everyone helps themselves.” He agrees with Blanc about the key to getting it right — “good bitter chocolate” — but adds “a single espresso” to really nail it. Others go further; Francisco Vilela of La Poule au Pot puts a dash of Grand Marnier in his, “to give it that little extra kick,” while Gregory Marchand of Frenchie adds a “touch of salt and a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil” to his.
Experimentation, then, seems key. Claude Bosi, of Bibendum and soon-to-open Socca, explains that while the dish is in theory simple one, “it’s hard to make a good chocolate mousse.” He has two versions he makes, “one with whipped cream and one with egg whites, but both are delicious.”
Where to get a dollop of the good stuff…
If the idea of throwing around a the olive oil or digging out the Grand Marnier doesn’t appeal, the answer is to go out. French-owned Big Mamma’s latest “pleasure palace” Jacuzzi on Kensington High Street (94 Kensington High Street, W8, bigmammagroup.com) is serving a “choco Jacquemousse” on their menu, a nod to the French fashion designer of the moment, Simon Porte Jacquemus. It’s already proved a hit already with food influencers with one, @boopfoodie, explaining to her near-19,000 TikTok followers that’s the “new London dessert you need in your life.”
Elsewhere, Brasserie Zedel’s ( 20 Sherwood Street, W1, brasseriezedel.com) classic version of the pudding still remains popular, while the French House’s (49 Dean Street, W1, frenchhousesoho.com) Neil Borthwick says the dish is a “very popular menu choice” at his restaurant. “I’d say my version of chocolate mousse is pretty good. I use cooked Italian meringue, pump street chocolate, and whipping cream. That’s it.”
Quique Dacosta’s Arros QD (64 Eastcastle Street, W1, arrosqd.com) goes the opposite way, meanwhile, serving up a passion fruit infused version with white chocolate caviar. Similarly different is the Portuguese version of the dish at Bar Douro (35B Southwark Bridge Road, SE1, bardouro.co.uk), which is served with “chocolate salame.” Fortunately, there’s no meat involved. Elsewhere, Alex Owens will serve what sounds like the ultimate indulgence when she plates up a hot chocolate mousse at her new Battersea restaurant Archway (65 Queen's Circus, SW8, archwaybattersea.co.uk). It opens in March.
The simple truth of it is, then, that the mousse may be humble, but it’s not going anywhere — just remember to ask your waiter to leave the whole bowl.
