The challenges of a new pastry chef in India and Paris - The Conversation podcast, BBC World Service

Key Concepts

• Pastry vs. Bakery
• French Pastry
• Middle Eastern Pastry
• Egg-free Pastry
• Entrepreneurship
• Importance of Team
• Adapting to Local Preferences

Early Influences and Inspiration

• Tejasvi Chandela: Her father's banana flambé and Nigella Lawson's cooking shows on TLC sparked her interest in baking. She experimented with desserts like meringue, pavlova, and Eton mess while studying at Royal Holloway in London.
• Myriam Sabet: Growing up in Syria and later moving to West Africa, Myriam was exposed to her mother's elaborate dinners and buffets featuring French, Italian, and Middle Eastern pastries. She developed a "gourmand" palate and imagined flavor combinations.

Training and Education

• Tejasvi Chandela: Faced parental pressure to obtain a degree before culinary training. She pursued business management while baking for friends. Later, she completed a pastry course at Leeds School of Food and Wine in London, worked as a trainee in a hotel in India, worked as a project manager in Kuala Lumpur, and earned a pastry diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
• Myriam Sabet: After a 12-year career in finance, Myriam trained at the Ecole de Boulangerie et de Patisserie de Paris (an intensive adult course of six months to have the first level degree of pastry, of French pastry) and interned with a Middle Eastern pastry family in Montreal to learn both French and Middle Eastern pastry techniques.

Career Transitions

• Tejasvi Chandela: Opened her first pastry shop in Jaipur at the age of 22, immediately after graduating from pastry school.
• Myriam Sabet: After 12 years in finance, she decided to pursue her passion for pastry after having her first child. She sought a career that would be fulfilling and meaningful to her daughter.

Challenges Faced

• Tejasvi Chandela:
  • Lack of awareness about patisseries in Jaipur.
  • Training a team with no prior experience in baking.
  • Adapting her menu to cater to the local preference for egg-free pastries.
  • Overcoming the perception of being too young to be taken seriously.
• Myriam Sabet:
  • Entering the competitive Parisian pastry scene with no prior retail, pastry, or entrepreneurial experience.
  • Overcoming obstacles by maintaining a positive attitude and seeking help.

Business Strategies and Adaptations

• Tejasvi Chandela:
  • Recognized the need to adapt her French pastry menu to include egg-free options to cater to the vegetarian population in Jaipur.
  • Emphasized the importance of building a strong and well-trained team.
• Myriam Sabet:
  • Sought to bring an added value to the Parisian pastry scene by combining French and Middle Eastern techniques.
  • Focused on finding "helping hands" and maintaining a positive outlook to overcome challenges.

Key Quotes

• Tejasvi Chandela: "When you're appreciated for something, you feel like, I'm good at it. So let me give it a try. Let me give a shot."
• Myriam Sabet: "What's going to be the first day of the rest of my life? What am I going to spend my time working for? And what would be worth, which job would be worth not being with my kids, like with my child?"
• Myriam Sabet: "When you look for obstacles, you find them."
• Tejasvi Chandela: "...sometimes as creative people we forget what people want. And it's a very thin line there. So you have to kind of take into consideration the demand of the city as well. You can't just blindly go and do anything and everything that you want to do."

Technical Terms and Concepts

• Patisserie: A pastry shop specializing in delicate and elaborate pastries.
• Bakery: A shop that sells bread and other baked goods.
• Banana Flambé: A dessert where bananas are cooked with alcohol and set on fire.
• Meringue: A dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar.
• Pavlova: A meringue-based dessert topped with whipped cream and fruit.
• Eton Mess: A traditional English dessert consisting of a mixture of meringue, whipped cream, and strawberries.
• Premixes: Pre-made mixtures of ingredients used in baking.

Synthesis/Conclusion

The conversation highlights the journeys of two women, Tejasvi Chandela and Myriam Sabet, who pursued their passion for pastry despite facing different challenges. Tejasvi, starting young in India, had to overcome a lack of awareness and adapt to local preferences for egg-free pastries. Myriam, transitioning from finance in Paris, had to establish herself in a highly competitive market by blending French and Middle Eastern techniques. Both stories emphasize the importance of passion, adaptability, and building a strong team in the pursuit of entrepreneurial success in the culinary world.