Thierry Metee, Pastry Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel, says you have to have passion for his job. After all, he takes hours to make something you devour in five minutes
Thierry Metee, Pastry Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel, says you have to have passion for his job. After all, he takes hours to make something you devour in five minutes
"My goal? Bringing a piece of Paris to Mumbai!" says Thierry Metee, who spent the last year and a half working as a pastry chief for the Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai. The French cook took part in the opening of the hotel in 2007 and designed the whole pastry menu. He also created a take away service for those who would like to bring back some cakes or "Petits fours" home. "We cook all the desserts and sweets served here," he comments.
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Thiery Metee, pastry chef at The Four Seasons Hotelu00a0pics/ SAMEER MARKANDE |
When asked whether it is an advantage to be French to work as a chef in India, he answers: "Pastry remains something French in the mind of people, even though now there are famous chefs from other countries. That is why we try to stick to French tradition, because I think it is what people seek when they come here." For that reason, Chef Metee chooses to cook quite simple delicacies, but to keep focused on quality: "I use the best products, even if it sometimes means importing it: Our chocolate comes from Europe, the butter from France, and the Indian products we use are chosen as carefully as the European ones".
For the chef, cooks are not magicians, they can't prepare something good with bad products. That's why he insists on using the best sugar, the best butter, the best cream. Moreover, everything served within the hotel has been entirely prepared in its kitchen, from the biscuits to the ice cream. "Pastry doesn't have to be complex to be good and a traditional "Opera" (chocolate and coffee cake) is one of the best things you could have if it is well prepared," he adds.
Chef Metee sometimes bring small changes in traditional recipes, such as serving a chocolate "Fondant" with nuts ice cream instead of vanilla. But he believes that Mumbai people are not bored of traditional French pastries yet and says the market might not be ready to explore innovative food (innovative also sometimes means weird, let's not forget that).
Still, when asked about mixing French and Indian food, he is not running out of ideas: "Why not put kulfi on a French dessert?" Maybe the time will come, but for now he'd rather focus on traditional food. However, the "Indian touch" in his pastries somehow lies in the presentation: "I like to serve the cakes and other delicacies in small parts. It reminds me of Indian food, when people all order different things and share it, while in France, everybody sticks to his food without dropping a crumb. I like this sharing spirit, and I like to know people can taste a little bit of everything," he confesses, biting into a bright-green macaroon.
More than bringing French food, his goal is also to bring a technique, to train a team up to international standards. He's already succeeded. Some of them started from scratch and he had to teach them everything.
"Eighty per cent of what they do now has been learnt here," he declares, adding that he mostly insists on discipline and regularity because he wants his pastries to reach high standards. "But most of all, I want motivated people: It will be difficult, stressful, they will work at night, but still, they have to keep on doing perfect work. Professionalism doesn't mean being able to cook a good cake; it means being able to do so all year long.
"Pastry cooks also need to be creative, as pastry is something very visual. The set up is essential because when customers come to taste the food, they first say: 'It's beautiful' before saying 'It's good'."
No wonder people have such a reaction! All those cakes divided into small parts look like candies of different colors: green macaroon with purple fruit paste, chocolate and raspberry cake with its bright pink berry on top, another soft pink macaroon, and the opera, black, white and brown mellow cake decorated with a leaf of white chocolate... they look like pastries escaped from a cartoon!
For the chef, this is one of the good things about working in India: here, he has the satisfaction (and the challenge) of teaching someone a job. Even though the chef will go back to France from April to August for personal reasons, he doesn't seem worried: "My team is doing amazing work. I totally trust them to maintain the same level while I am gone."
When asked what is his secret or what advice he would give to those who want to cook, he has only one answer: passion. "Pastry takes time. You can spend hours preparing something that will be eaten in less than five minutes, so you have to be ready for that. You have to like it, to be passionate. Otherwise, it is torture."
