Alexandre Boulanger- I Advise Everyone to Realize That It Is a Profession of Passion Before Anything Else (Pastry Chef From Monacco With 142K+ Followers)

I regularly carry out master classes every two to three months in private schools to teach professionals in Paris, as well as regular collaborations in the whole of France

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I started professional pastry at the age of 24; before that, I was in another professional environment, and I started my career in Monaco, working as a self-taught pastry chef in the Palace 5 star renamed on Monaco as well as the Michelin-starred restaurants. On Monaco, all this for 5 years arrived at the age of 30. I decided to take a year of rest to pass the diploma to become professional in the eyes of the French State, so I passed the CAP pastry diploma. Subsequently, once my diploma was obtained by finishing my major in my first class of all the candidates, I decided to go for a short baking experience shop in Dubai, then I came back to France to be able to start opening my own laboratory pastry shop.

My business has now been made up for 2 years with only one laboratory and no physical pastry to accommodate the public, so I operate on order, I make my deliveries in the sector from Monaco, and thereafter I have been on today's day for more than 1 and a half years as an ambassador for a very large brand of French pastry. I regularly carry out master classes every two to three months in private schools to teach professionals in Paris, as well as regular collaborations in the whole of France in shop pastry with pastry buddies to showcase the time of a weekend but pastry.

2. What led you to take up this career path?

I have always been animated by the culinary side because, compared to my mother, the dishes, pastries, sweets, and salty in my family carry an important place in the nucleus family. Suddenly, I have always been educated with these notions of cooking pastry, always wanting to share and learn from my mother, and it has become a real passion.

3.What does your typical day looks like?

Generally, a day consists of the implementation of the definition of pastries for morning deliveries to my customers. Once I have finished my deliveries, I return to the laboratory to carry out the new set-up for next-day orders and a reinsort of raw materials if necessary. I try in my schedule to provide at least once a week a creation of pastry for social networks on the digital side, especially Instagram, which today carries forward the side of knowledge-making craftsmen in manual trades and especially pastry-bakers, which is why it is of enormous importance to develop a new video once a week.

4. Does one's approach change when cooking profesionally and at home?

Yes, the pastry at home and in a professional laboratory changes enormously because, generally, at home the traditional household ovens are different from the blow-the-rain ovens, and the methods also change according to volume and quantities compared to receipts, and that takes a lot of organisation. Also, everything is to be reviewed. I want to say that it would be necessary to have a diploma for homemade pastry and professional pastry.

5. Is there a dish you particularly associate yourself with?

Yes I really like the creamy and creamy vanilla pastry custard or also in all simplicity a strawberry pie with a good sweet dough an almond cream and strawberries.

6. Can cooking be learnt at culinary schools or a natural talent is required?

Generally, yes, we learn cooking and pastry in specialised schools for this purpose, but also, yes, pastry or cooking can possibly be a vocation and can be learned really alone at home if you are really passionate. If you learn, document yourself, or watch videos on social networks, you really have to be motivated. On the other hand, you really have to be motivated to learn pastry alone because once you enter a professional environment, it really becomes another pair of sleeves, and I advise everyone to realise that it is a profession of passion before anything else.

But I also want to inform you that pastry is a really difficult job, so you really have to have a good mind for that and not really believe everything you can see on television in the media formats of baking reality TV or even sometimes all the good sides on social networks. You have to be really passionate and have a good mind.

7. Which is your favourite book and why?

I strongly recommend the book of the Ferrandi pastry school to anyone who wants an effective pastry book. I had this book when I first started learning certain recipes and I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants an effective pastry book.

Brief bio:

Pastry Chef from Monacco
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Interviewed By-Anshika Garg