Chef Anna Polyviou's energy is contagious. The popular Pastry Chef from Australia has been exploring various Indian cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, and recently came to the national capital for a special high tea at The Claridges, New Delhi. Chef Anna knows how to blend sophistication with punk vibes, and the same comes to life in her dishes. Whether it is the sweet rose mousse packed with incredible layers of strawberry lychee compote, champagne gel and pistachio dacquise; or the golden tarlet with fromager custard, caramelised onion, and heirloom tomatoes -- Chef Anna knows how to give a unique edge to every dish.
When the chef works on crafting her desserts, she does so with utmost concentration, focus and clarity. Her love for food in general, and desserts in particular, can be gauged in no time. However, what Chef Anna loves the most joy is feeding people all things sweet, and bringing a wide smile to their faces when they enjoy the bursting and refreshing flavours of her desserts.
We spoke to Chef Anna to learn more about her journey, her love for desserts since childhood, her tips for budding chefs and much more. Read on to learn more about the celebrity chef's delightful insights into the culinary world.
Excerpts From NDTV Food's Interview With Chef Anna Polyviou:
1. What is the best part about being a pastry chef?
With a smile on her face, Chef Anna says, "I think the best part is the opportunity to make people happy when they have a sweet treat. You know, like you saw, everyone's getting excited. It's an experience like no other and makes people feel really special when they're eating it. I think that's really what I love about it."
2. What are the challenges to being a pastry chef that perhaps no other chef faces?
"The weight, the waistline is definitely a challenge," Chef Anna jokes, adding on a serious note, "But also with savoury, you know, you can always adjust it and fix the problem. Whilst with sweet, that's it. Like, if you have weighted it wrong or something, you can't fix it, you can't go back to it. You have got to start over."
3. What's your favourite colour for a dessert?
Not a big fan of dark-coloured desserts, Chef Anna shares, "I like berry colours, so I like the pinks and the purples. Because you don't want your dessert to be too dark. That's always like dark chocolates and stuff, not so much. I like fresh tropical colours. We see mango is a yellowy colour and then berries are like a pinkish-reddish colour. So I like those two areas. It pops out and it gets exciting. But I also love using natural green herbs to balance it out very well. And also edible flowers. I really like flowers, they're beautiful."
A look at Chef's Anna Polyviou's high tea menu at The Claridges, New Delhi.
4. With more and more people embracing a vegan or gluten-free diet, how does it challenge you as a pastry chef?
Sharing her fresh experience from India, Chef Anna said, "I think it is really important. Like, you know, for example, I came to India and Conosh have been hosting me and have organised all these different things like a masterclass, but it has to be eggless. And I was like, oh, okay, but it's not a bad thing, it's just the way society is becoming, and we need to adapt and we need to meet the requirements of our guests. I think that's really important, and I think this time around I'm able to learn that. So we've done different workshops, different masterclasses with Conosh, and we made sure that it was eggless, and then if anyone had dietary requirements, we try to meet them."
5. Do you remember the first dessert you ever made?
Taking a trip down her memory lane, Chef Anna shared, "It would have been with my mum because she made me in the kitchen when I never wanted to be in there. I just remember her making cakes, and then she wouldn't let me lick the bowl and I was very upset and she'll take it away from me."
Talking about a special dessert made for her, Chef Anna added, "But I just remember when I was a good girl, she would make me a custard with cinnamon on top, in her glass Greek bowl."
"I remember the smell, I remember the fact that she used to make it for me when I was good, which was not often," she joked. "So when I did get it, it was a treat. I think that's why I really love custards."
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6. What are your views on Indian desserts?
"I have tried so many of them and I love them. We went to a beautiful hotel when we first came to Delhi, and the pastry chef was Indian. And I always love seeing Indian pastry chefs in India. I think it's really important because for us in Australia, it was always the Europeans would come, and I always wanted to see people that live in Australia to be doing it," she emphasized.
Sharing her newfound love for mangoes, she adds, "And I'm a big fan of mangoes now because of mango season and everything should have mango in it. That's really good to see."
Chef Anna Polyviou
7. If you ever had to give up one dessert for the rest of your life, which one would that be?
Knowing where to draw a line, Chef Anna expressed, "I don't like savoury and sweet together. I really am funny about that. I know sometimes it really works, but I can't process it. A sweet, for me, is a sweet. I don't want to have a savoury item that I don't like."
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8. What would be your advice to budding pastry chefs?
Sharing her unfiltered advice, Chef Anna said, "I think for me, it's really important to be a sponge, you know, to absorb as much as you can information, also be around like-minded people, surround yourself with people that you inspire to be and people that really encourage you. I think it's a very difficult industry sometimes, and having people that really support you and love you and encourage is really important. But don't think you know it all. We all don't know it all. Just learn, learn, learn, learn. I still learn every day. I still ask the questions, I still read books, I still ring up a friend. So, that's really important."
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