He?s a former Princess Hotel chef who has made gingerbread mansions to entertain White House visitors; he?s ruined the diets of kings and queens and even the President?s dog has licked sugar off his shoes. is, of course, Roland Mesnier, recently retired White House pastry chef and author of ?Dessert University: More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential Lessons from White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier?.

Mr. Mesnier will be giving a demonstration of his culinary techniques at a four-course dinner hosted by Alliance Francaise of Bermuda, a charity that celebrates French language and culture on the Island.

?We are delighted to present, with the generous support of the Hamilton Fairmont Hotel, an extraordinary gastronomic night to remember,? said Nicky Gurret of Alliance Francaise.

At the end of the meal, Mr. Mesnier will be showing diners how to make a typical French dessert, Oeufs ? la Neige otherwise known as Snow Eggs or Floating Islands.

?Those in attendance will experience typical French cuisine with a dessert not available in any restaurant in Bermuda,? said Ms Gurret.

Mr. Mesnier, who was born in the small town of Bonnay, France, retired from his position as executive pastry chef at the White House in July after 25 years of service. Before that he worked for several years at the Princess Hotel in Bermuda where he met and married his wife Martha.

The sumptuous four-course dinner including gratuities is $65.00 for current member of the Alliance Francaise of Bermuda and $80.00 for non-members.

The present head chef of the Hamilton Fairmont Princess, Thomas Frost, along with the food and beverage director Emmanuel Perot has meticulously planned this four-course dinner for all food lovers.

The event will take place on Saturday, January 15 at the Hamilton Fairmont Princess Hotel with a limited amount of tickets available on December 30, 2004 at Pulp and Circumstance on Queen Street in Hamilton.

Tickets will not be sold after January 11, as special ingredients must be ordered. Any queries concerning the dinner please call Nicky Gurret at 295-4597.

To give us a sneak preview of Oeufs ? la Neige Ms Gurret invited reporter Jessie Moniz and photographer Meredith Andrews to her house to sample first-hand the French delicacy.

Warning, this is not a dessert for the lactose-challenged ? the only ingredients are milk and eggs.

It was a typical pre-Christmas afternoon at Ms Gurret?s home. As she put the finishing touches on the dessert, her daughter stuck her head in from the other room saying, ?Mommy, can I have a candy??

No, not now.

Five minutes later, Can I have a candy now?

Another five minutes, the little head appeared again, ?What about ??

The dish Ms Gurret assembled basically looked like white blobs (hence the name snow eggs) in milk.

?This is very light,? said Ms Gurret pouring caramel over the blobs. ?This is low calorie. It is one of the lowest calorie desserts, practically. It has no butter. It has milk and eggs. It is a very simple dessert to make ? if you?ve made it many times. It is a soft meringue. You have to put it into boiling water.?

Since there are very few ingredients in this dessert, it is very economical, using nine eggs and a carton of milk it cost about $5 and feeds 12.

?It takes a while to make because you have to have a knack. You have to be able to separate the eggs,? she said. ?It doesn?t take that long in a way. It probably takes me around three quarters of an hour from start to finish.?

Her sister, Kathy Lama, who gave management assistance said Oeufs ? la Neige is a ?really nice? dish.

?It is a traditional French dessert,? she said. ?You eat it any time of the year. They use to have it at restaurants here like the Waterlot Inn but they don?t anymore, not as far as I know.?

Mr. Mesnier is a friend of Ms Gurret?s father, Eddie Gurret, who was executive chef at the Princess Hotel, several years ago when Mr. Mesnier was employed there.

?He is going to be making chocolate Oeufs ? la Neige,? she said. ?We are lucky because he is doing the demonstration for free. He is a very good friend of our family. When I called him, he said he happened to be coming already for another event.?

As a teenager, Ms Gurret even went to visit Mr. Mesnier at the White House during the era of Ronald Reagan.

?It was great,? she said. ?I saw Reagan come on the helicopter and walk into the White House when he arrived.

?Roland said ?Nicky, go see Reagan?. We waited for him to come in.

?I visited Roland at the White House three years ago, but I couldn?t get in because of all the security that has gone up since September 11, 2001.?

Both of Ms Gurret?s parents are French. Her father was from Savoie near the Italian border, and her mother was from Paris.

?We have learned from our dad to cook,? she said. ?We never learned food costs and managing, or that kind of thing.?

She said that Mr. Mesnier was well-known on the Island for his fantastic butter sculptures entered in the Agriculture Show every year.

?He is fantastic,? she said. ?He did all the agriculture shows. It was when you had a la carte at the Princess for 1,000 people a night. It was 25 years ago when the hotels were full and you had butter sculptures and that sort of thing.?

Although Mr. Mesnier is world famous, he never attended any famous cooking schools. He started working in a French pastry shop at the age of 14, and then travelled around the world learning different techniques and picking up experience.

?From Roland Mesnier?s fist bite of croissant as a schoolboy in the small town of Bonnay, France, he has been devoted to pastry and desserts,? said Ms Gurret.

Before coming to Bermuda he worked in the kitchen of the world famous Savoy hotel in London. He also worked at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia where he discovered his passion for teaching dessert seminars.

In 1979, Rosalynn Carter hired him for the plum position of executive pastry chef at the White House.

There Mr. Mesnier delighted in making extraordinary desserts for kings, queens, dignitaries and celebrities, as well as five American presidents and their families.

On tours of the White House, Mr. Mesnier?s kitchen proved to be a popular stopping point for visitors. On a website called, ?Ask the White House? at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/20040727.html Mr. Mesnier answered hundreds of questions from curious people.

Mr. Mesnier?s response to one question about whether the secret service had banned flamb?s for security reasons, although amusing also revealed the dedication and personal sacrifice it took to work at the White House.

?First of all, to be the pastry chef at the White House you have to be totally dedicated to the profession, the job and the First Family,? he said. ?You don?t think about free time because your time is at the White House. Any time you are needed you have to be there.

?It could be Christmas day, Easter, your birthday, your mother?s birthday, your child?s birthday ? you are going to be at the White House if you are needed. The White House always comes first.

?Everything you do has to be perfect. There is no guessing or any ?second times?. Whatever you send out has to be absolutely perfect. There is no ?oops?, or maybe or ?I think?.

?Perfection is no accident. It is just something that you need to apply at the White House.

?The Secret Service, by the way, has not restricted flaming desserts. But I do restrict it, because on one Christmas a lady caught on fire. She was wearing a fox shawl around her neck, she leaned over on the dessert table and whoops she was on fire. So no flamb? at the White House.?

Mr. Mesnier wrote in answer to one person that he had obtained the job at the White House because he had just been in the right place at the right time.

?My employment at the White House has been the greatest adventure and the greatest way to spend my working years,? he wrote. ?It has been incredible and hard for me to explain. Very rewarding.

?And now that I will be moving on, I plan on doing a lot of fun things like travelling and enjoying good wine, good food and seeing beautiful scenery.

?I don?t know who my replacement is going to be, but I wish him or her good luck.?