How a Pastry Chef Found Love & Comfort Through Sweet Desserts
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
And that applies to baking, as well.
Just ask Shikha Kaiwar, pastry chef extraordinaire! Her enthusiasm for desserts began at a young age and includes making them, not just eating them!
Shikha’s penchant for baking began at home as a way to deal with her parent’s divorce and carried over to school, where she started a Dessert Club. Now that’s my kind of extracurricular activity. After that, she went on to work in kitchens at age fourteen.
Given the moniker ‘Shikha la Mode’ by college friends, her website (of the same name) is a delightful blend of pastries, travel, culture, and commentary on life in the various locales she’s called home. I encourage you to read more about her interesting journey!
I had the pleasure of interviewing Shikha and decided that Valentine’s Day was a perfect occasion to showcase a different kind of love!
Welcome, Shikha!
Growing up in your family of origin, what role did food play?
My mom cooked every single night without fail while working full-time. I'm Indian-American, so dinners were always Indian cuisine. I thought every family ate like this; it wasn't until much later that I realized that was not the case and that my mom made it a priority to cook so that my brother and I could stay connected to our culture.
At what age did you discover that food satisfied more than physical hunger?
I started making desserts when I was thirteen, right after my parents divorced. I'd find recipes in the newspaper's Sunday food section, snip them out, and ask my dad to buy the ingredients. Although my first desserts weren't very good (I served a still-warm cheesecake a few times because I was too impatient to let it cool overnight), I saw how much joy they brought people. Moreover, desserts became a respite from my parent’s divorce. I could be in my own world in the kitchen and in total control, and I craved that stability a lot. When things felt chaotic elsewhere, I knew that I could follow a recipe and it would turn out how I wanted it to.
On your About Page, you describe your newsletter as an attempt to decode identity through desserts. Does that include the reader's identity?
Yes! Identity is a big word that covers a lot. I use the newsletter to discuss what desserts teach us about the world as well as ourselves. We all have memories of desserts—some happy, some sad, some confusing. I use my memories as a jumping-off point to question what's happening at large and what we may learn from this.
In the Puff Pastry post, you equate great results with a cook's intuition. Is a person born with this insight, or is it acquired, and if so, how?
While there is some natural intuition at play, I do believe that intuition can be taught as well. I mentioned in that newsletter how I had a strong team who showed me how to trust my instincts and learn from my mistakes when I made them—and I did make them! It is hard to learn intuition without a coach of some sort, whether a formal or informal one. If it's something you want to develop, I'd try and find someone like that who can help guide you. And then I would cook, cook, cook. The best cooking experience is cooking, so don't be afraid to try things over and over again until you get it.
What advice would you give an up-and-coming novice pastry chef?
The food world today is very different than when I started. New cooks today expect a lot out of their workplaces and want to move up quickly. I'm a bit more old school, so I say that if you want to become a good cook, work in restaurants that are doing things you want to learn, and then be the best worker you can be. Show up early, stay late, and do the repetitive tasks. It is hard work and thankless at times, but it will teach you discipline and consistency, which are key tenets of being a good cook.
I want to thank Shikha for sharing her story with us.
Also, be sure to check out her wonderful website and tantalizingly sweet 'pastry thangs,' as she likes to call them.
(Please note: This interview was lightly edited for clarity.)
Thanks for reading this week.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to you! Even if there’s no significant other to share the day with, you can always celebrate with family, friends, and/or yourself! Dinner, a Happy Hour get-together, a long bubble bath…whatever makes you happy. Do something sweet for YOU! Self-care and loving ourselves are not selfish acts; it nourishes our emotional health so that we enjoy each day to the fullest.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
“Which is your preference, cooking or baking?”
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Is there a difference between cooking and baking? I wasn't aware...
I'm in the kitchen every day making meals, but I also bake cakes, slices, biscuits and cookies and food for the freezer as the vegetables and fruit in the garden are ready to pick. Also, husband makes jams, chutneys and sauces from our produce.
But it's not a favourite pursuit like other things in our life - it's just survival cooking for our household because nothing beats home-grown and home-cooked food.