- Who inspires you to have interest in confectionery in early teenage?
Very rarely but it happen – that people from the birth are destined to have a great future. Mozart could write a Symphony when he was just 5 years. Einstein was a child when he expressed interest in the theory of relativity. Michelangelo was playing with a hammer and chisel in his cradle. Even in the pastry chef profession there are stars where natural tallents and intuition merged – this is Philippe Conticini. And for example Pierre Herme has started to study a pastry art at 14 years old.
I can’t say that I have been cooking during all my life and that my first memory from the childhood is my vague image shrouded in a haze of flour. No. I have two high educations in other areas – director-producer and HR in IT area. But it always seemed to me that it wasn’t my place.
I woke up one day when I was almost 24 years old and thought: “What if I cook something special?” And suddenly this “special” was successful, so I decided to dedicate my life to a pastry. I cooked, tried, experimented, combined, erased, drew, built the schemes, tried again and enjoyed the result.
France was and remains for me as a country – discovery in the world of culinary skills
People can say anything about other countries – everyone has a right to their opinion, but for me France is not only a country that brought a food into the cult and art for me, not just a place of a quality products and famous Pastry Chefs… but it’s the country of my soul. Everytime when I step off the plane, I become so calm, like I come back home after a very long separation and I feel that now everything will be great because I’m at home.
So I knew exactly in what country I should start learning this beautiful science. I lived inspired after reading books of French masters and of course I wanted to try it all out, it was like a magic for me.
- Did you found any difficulty in your patisserie career at so young age?
Yes, it was difficult to become a patisserie at so young age.
It’s very hard to follow your dream. But how can you live if you don’t have any purpose in your life? What should you do if it’s a part of you? I felt asleep thinking about cakes, I saw cakes in delirium and silently cry into the pillow because I couldn’t just stand, go to the kitchen and start to bring ideas to life because of a weakness, chills and high temperature. I was dreaming of new ideas of assembly, decoration and flavor combination. Was it normal? I don’t know, I just can’t live otherwise.
Now every day of my life is a happiness that lives deep inside of me. And every morning all over again. I’m doing a right job, it cannot be otherwise. Sometimes I work during 16 hours per day and it goes in one breath, I want to fall asleep and wake up in the morning to repeat all again.
I’m inspired absolutely by everything, especially France. I get inspired in France and I feel deeply lost and weak if I don’t go there at least once in six months. When I create a new dessert I can be inspired by the weather, flowers, unusual pattern on the grids, interesting interior and dishes! I can take a new form for the dessert in the shop, and staying at the checkout I can imagine a new image of a dessert – what will be the best combination for this dessert, for this form. Sometimes I create dessert “under the decor”. Yes-yes, sometimes it happens. I experiment with chocolate, …, macarons, caramel… I do something well and I understand that this will be a perfect decoration for a cake or individual cake. And the best ingredient’s for it will be so-and-so… And that’s all. I want to start to cook and decorate as soon as possible, to see if my ideas were right. And I’m wrong very rarely.
Today I’m a Russian artist-patissier and an Ambassador of the Cacao Barry
French Chocolate Brand and of the Life Is a Game chefs’ uniform producer. A graduate from EcoleNationaleSuperieure De La Patisserie, I have been a participating to numerous professional competitions, a consultant in pastry skills and a columnist in a number of pastry journals.
I received a professional training in France and annually attends professional development programs in top European schools. I work in Russia as well as abroad and hold master classes all over the world. I represented Russia as a patissier.
Follow your dreams and it will come true for sure
- Have you ever tried any Pakistani cuisine? What’s your opinion about the Pakistani food and culture?
Unfortunately now but I very interesting about it.
- Tell me something about first experience in patisserie career?
If in my life… it was amazing hazelnut cookie with chocolate glacage, that we make with my sister at school time.
- How you maintain sweetness in you dishes?
I tried always to have strong balance with sweetness and natural flavor of my products and ingredients.
- Who is your inspiration in the field of patisserie or chocolatier?
When I started my guru, my first “teacher” was Pierre Herme. When I first time came to Paris, it was not for study, it was for concert Bon Jovi (!) I bought my first big Pastry Book – PH10 by Pierre Herme. And it was like… I opened life again. Like, before I saw this world at the white and gray colors and now saw all the colors of the rainbow! I didn’t know French language, but one year I seat with my computer and translated all this big book, all recipes! Word by word I wrote and translated in google. One year. And after this I prepared all this recipes. After one year I started to read French recipes without translation, but it is still difficult to speak. So, I really can tell, that Herme was my first teacher, who inspired me and who opened my eyes and mind.
- Tell us something about your classes and holding events you invest in and also what are your future plans?
I successfully work around the world. My projects are not only in Russia, but also in the Europe. And I am happy that I can work with the different projects and always make new, unique sweet things for different places. I don’t have any my places, because I like this, I feel myself free –creating new things, travel, meet wonderful new people and find new interesting ideas. At the same time, I do not only consulting, but I also conduct lot of master-classes around the world. And I love this.
- ‘Taste is in the hand of someone who cooks or in the recipe?’ what do you think?
For me very important secret of good final results – it’s your mood, when you cook it.
- As you are a pastry consultant so how you manage your health?
I travel a lot and sometimes twice times at the week I can have a big jet lag. Between classes I try to have good rest with my daughter and drink vitamins. That’s all – good food and good rest.
- Tell us a best experience as brand Ambassador of a Cocoa Barry?
For me it’s a big honor to be Ambassador of a Cocoa Barry. It’s interesting and very important to my country – represent this chocolate around the world like Russian Ambassador. I like to work and have a meeting with other ambassadors everywhere. We are like a big chocolate family!
- what is your favorite thing to make in desert?
I like the process. It’s hypnosis, meditation for me. To create new things, new molds for presentation, new taste… It’s my magic of pastry.
