Adarsh Thomas - I Think Apart From The Practical Side , The Science Behind How And Why A Process Or Reaction Takes Place While You Cook Helps A Lot To Understand (Pastry Chef From Bangalore)

I completed my schooling and graduation in Bangalore, though my roots are from Kerala. Since my 5th

grade I always wanted to be a pastry chef as I loved sweets. So after my 12th grade I joined Christ University to do my bachelor's in hotel management and in my 3rd year took specialisation in pastry.

After graduation I have worked in places like Goa, Kochi and Bangalore. During the pandemic, I started my own business under the brand name "The Craving Therapy " where I served not just desserts but also savouries.

Currently I work as the pastry chef at Lakeview Milk Bar, Bangalore. In my leisure time I love painting, singing, reading and binge watching series.

1) Tell more about your background and journey?

I was always passionate about food as a kid and made up my mind to do my hotel management. I started my hotel management at Christ University in 2014 and at that point we had to learn all aspects of the hotel industry which helped me decide if I wanted to concentrate on hot kitchen or pastry.

My mentors and teachers really pulled through on this aspect and I decided to specialize in pastry and bakery in the third year. During this time is when we had our industrial training, my first internship was at The Ritz Carlton Bangalore and later on with Amande Patisserie.

Here I guess I understood the pressure and hardships of this industry.. But I was still adamant about being a chef and after my hotel management I worked for a while with The Ramee group when they opened up a Bombay Adda in Goa and I got an entry level position as part of the opening team. Here I learnt how you basically set up a restaurant from scratch.

Later I went on to do a pastry and bakery course at Lavonne Academy which helped hone my skills as a chef and leader. After this I worked with Le Meridien in Kochi and after about three months into the pandemic hit and we were asked to go home as hotels started to close down.

Once I got back to Bangalore and saw that no one was really hiring I decided to bake and sell from home. I got my FSSAI licence and put up a small menu on Instagram and Facebook under the name 'The Craving Therapy' and initially it was my friends and family who used to order but slowly it picked up.

With my knowledge of management from Christ and places I worked at I started getting good at aspects like costing, waste management, time management and basically understood how to start a small set up and sustain it.

Once the effects of the pandemic started to die down I was determined to get back into the industry since I understood I need a lot more experience before I can set up a proper bake house/ restaurant by myself.

Hence with my self thought abilities of being able to manage a small facility I started to look for jobs as a pastry chef even though professionally I had only gone up as high as a commi 1 in the hotel industry.

I started my stint with Krumb Kraft and helped them start their pastry section in full and was able to plan menus, train staff and maintain quality and standards while working with some amazing ingredients. Currently I work with Lake View Milk Bar which is one of Bangalore's oldest ice cream parlour and bake house.

2) What led you to take up this career?

I think as a kid cooking shows always had my attention and it always looked like art when chefs used to plate food and when I did my training during BHM, I understood the joy and satisfaction you get when you serve a guest and see the happiness and satisfaction on their faces.

I think this was one of the main reasons I got into this field. Also after a point I started to enjoy the immense pressure during service and the need for perfection and coordination in a pastry setting. With pastry it's all about precision and art and this stood out to me.

3) Is there a difference in attitude while cooking professionally and at home?

Definitely, at work it's always about keeping your time, understanding guest preferences, making sure the high volume production dosent have a lot of wastage, keeping up with current trends and also finding the right work flow for yourself and when you work as a team, understanding how others work and manage the team accordingly to get maximum output while also ensuring their best work.

At home it's a more relaxed setting and I make products according to my taste since no one is really going to complain for the most part and also it's really hard to cook at home once you cook in a professional setting as usually if it's meat... We use only the required cut of meat that comes from the butchery department as indented but at home when your mum buys the whole chicken and I want to only cook with a particular part of the chicken, it usually leads to a whole hour of arguments but it's fun I guess.

4) Can cooking be learnt at culinary school or natural talent is required?

Honestly, before my hotel management I have never entered the kitchen. As fascinated I was with cooking shows I never had the nerve to actually make anything apart from Maggi.

But as I started my initial baking and culinary classes at Christ I started to push myself and make things at home which initially used to never really come out that great but the more I tried the better I became, I think at a culinary school you learn enough in terms of practicals and also the science behind baking and cooking and this is more than enough with a lot of hard work and trials to learn how to cook and bake really well.

I think apart from the practical side understanding the science behind how and why a process or reaction takes place while you cook helps a lot to understand your end product and correct mistakes whenever possible instead of wasting ingredients if you go wrong at some point. The natural talent makes it all better.

5) How do you manage your own drive to eat as a pastry chef?

It's actually not that hard as, when you make a product you do taste it to ensure everything is right and in a day when you taste spoonfuls of everything that is sweet, you kind of get fed up.

The amount of sweet and rich food that I taste everyday which sums up to a lot eventually at the end of the day even if it's a spoonful everytime to taste, I try to stick to a healthy diet for my breakfast and dinner.

6) Which pastries are your favourites?

In terms of pastry, I absolutely love a good croissant and pain au chocolate, and with a sweet paste I can eat lemon tarts all day long..

In terms of desserts I'd definitely go with an opera, tiramisu or baklava.

7) Is it simple to prepare puff pastry?

Well lamination is a process that's pretty simply once you understand how to layer it well. It's one process I absolutely enjoy doing at any point of time.

And the puff pastry is a lot easier to make than a croissant. So I'm going to say it's pretty simply to prepare puff pastry.

8) Is being a pastry chef financially rewarding?

To be honest, in India it's takes a few years before you can actually make back all the money you spent studying to be a pastry chef since the initial pay is really low for the hours you put in and the pressure and stress you physically and mentally go through on a daily basis.

But I think once you do cross a 5-7 year mark of experience you start to get paid better. So if you’re up to wait for a few years then it’s eventually financially rewarding.