Rigour
"A pastry chef must be rigorous when making their pieces, when it comes to cleanliness and in everything to do with their work, even their attitude. When you practise this profession, you live and breathe pastry making, you are always thinking about it. Personally, I think about it 90% of the time, and that requires a lot of rigour and patience every day."
Passion
"For me, a pastry chef who is not passionate about the job will not go the distance. It’s difficult, we work long hours and we work on public holidays and over Christmas. All of the periods when normal people are relaxing are busy times for us at work. And it is the passion that keeps you going, which fuels you in this job."
When you are a pastry chef, you live and breathe pastry making, you are always thinking about it!
Awareness
"You have to be aware of everything around you so that you can draw inspiration from it. Today, in baking and pastry making, there are not that many new creations—it’s more a case of reinterpretations. We don't create anything: we have ideas, we make combinations, we interpret, and this work of interpretation is only possible because we have been attentive to what others do and what surrounds us."
Sharing
“Sharing is one of the essential values of the profession. The old generation used to keep their recipes secret, but today we are in a completely different dimension: we share our recipes, we show photos of our achievements, we really share our work with those who taste it. There is no longer this notion of egotism that you would find in the past, because we have understood something: it is not because we give our recipe to someone that they will be able to make it in the same way we do or that they will try to copy us. If people want to know the secrets behind what we make, it's because they have an interest in our work, and that’s very pleasing."
Curiosity
"It’s advantageous for a pastry chef to be curious and have an open mind. We are open to tasting different things, to discovering new flavours, new ways of working… And that's how we get our ideas. Reaching out to others always brings you something and allows you to improve yourself. It's a continuous exchange."
