16-07-2013
Chiara Patracchini, born in Ciriè (Torino) in 1982, is chief pastry-chef at La Credenza restaurant in San Maurizio Canavese (Torino). Best pastry-chef according to Identità Golose2012’s Guida ai ristoranti di Italia, Europa e Mondo
Are you born a pastry-chef? I don’t know. For sure, when I was a kid and people asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I didn’t appear to have any clear idea. I would say all sorts of jobs but “chef”: a mother, a soldier, a teacher, a translator… This is because when I was a child, chefs were still called cooks and working in a restaurant was by no means the dream it today represents for many people.
Since then, many years have gone by and now I do know what I want to do when I grow up: I want to be a pastry-chef! Besides, when you think about it, it’s a bit the synthesis of all the jobs I would mention in the beginning: I’m a teacher to younger people, an interpreter because many don’t speak Italian but also a bit of a soldier, because life in the kitchen is a mix of rules and rigour.
A Chiara's creation
The trick (or the luck, as you may prefer) is to have some good teachers, that would indicate the direction without imposing their own journey onto you. Teachers that would help you learn that this work is made of sacrifice, responsibility, rigour and discipline. And that you shouldn’t give up in the face of difficulties but stand up again and take the challenge. That of the pastry-maker is a job full of research. I teach my interns the importance of hands-on experience and that the quality a good pastry-chef needs is curiosity. Only this can lead you to understand ingredients and the rules of pastry-making in the proper way.
Men who, for a moment, leave pots and pans to tell us their experience and point of view
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From Western concert flute to cakes