Pastry chef Mary Chec talks about the art of decorating cakes. She is soon planning to try her hand at Indian confectionery. By S Mallik
Pastry art is something not many people will know of. But when award-winning pastry chef Mary Chec was in the city to inaugurate No 9 Pastry Shop at Hotel Diplomat, one had the privileged to walk into the world of pasty art. “It is very simple. It is art, only instead of a canvas, a piece of cloth or paper, you do it on a pastry,” Mary simplifies.
Interestingly as young girl, she had no interest in anything that went on in the kitchen. She recalls a funny incident when she work up one morning and had this indomitable urge to bake a cake. She reminisces, “I gave it my best shot and frankly since then, there was no looking back. I have also had the privilege to learn from few of the best in the field.” She is the proud author of two published books The Wine lover’s Dessert Cookbook and Savory Baking. Was turning into a writer always in her agendaIJ “Yes and no,” came her prompt reply. She initially had plans of writing a cook book, but when nothing seemed coordinate in the beginning she dropped the idea. She was working in the field full-time when she planned to do something else to expand her culinary art. She, however, feels that Indian pastry is more pudding based and is not firm enough. But then again, she learns from every country she visits. “I plan to try my hands at Indian confectionary some day. The process is different and I want to try that out,” she says.
Her brief tour of the country was wonderful. “It was a great learning experience,” she rounds off.