Take 5 with Lillian Maremont

Title: Founder Fudge Is My Life, Chocolate Taster
Hometown: Los Angeles, lived in the Bay Area since attending grad school, at Berkeley

1. How did you get started making chocolate sauce?
On the weekend of Nov 22nd 1963, JFK was shot and we had plans to throw an engagement party for some friends. We decided to go ahead with it and all day while everyone was glued to the TV I was in the kitchen trying to figure out what to put on the profiteroles for dessert and I began experimenting with chocolate sauce. From then on I'd always have it on hand for entertaining, for friends and I'd donate it to the schools for fundraisers.

One day my son's school called me and they said they were planning a benefit concert at the home of a prestigious socialite and we asked her what we could give her--this was someone like a Trump, what do you give them? And she said "you know that lady who sells her fudge sauce at the track meet every year, I'd love a case of that!" so I figured if it's good enough for her I'm going to put it on the market one day.

2. How did you come up with the name "Fudge Is My Life"?
One night my son and daughter and I were having dinner and my son had just finished doing the soundtrack for a documentary about the Tokyo fish market called "Fish is my life" and he said "why not call it Fudge Is My Life?" and that was it.

3. What's your favorite thing to do with chocolate sauce?
Eat it out of the jar when it's still warm when I've just made it. At night, a few hours after dinner, I put it on fruit, cake, ice cream...

4. What was the first thing you learned to cook?
Probably cheese blintzes. I didn't make them I rolled them. My mother taught me how to roll them. Before I could even crack eggs I learned to make waffles for Sunday morning breakfast. I'd have to wake my older sister to crack the eggs and separate them then she'd go back to bed and I'd have waffles ready when everybody woke up.

5. What's your favorite food movie?
I love Babette's Feast. I loved seeing Tampopo in San Francisco and going out to eat Japanese noodles afterwards. I don't know what I would have done if I had seen it somewhere I couldn't have done that!