MyZone live cooking: Chef Nicolas

Chef Nicolas van der Walt started cooking and experimenting with food at the tender age of 12 - a typical farm boy. Nicolas soon made headlines as one of the world’s most promising pastry chefs by entering numerous competitions and promoting the art of pastry. He became a leader in the art of sugar and chocolate crafting.

Chef Nicolas’s accomplishments and experiences include:

• Two-year in-house training programme at the Protea Hotel, Bloemfontein

• Management diploma – Central University of Technology, Free State

• Employed at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Rosebank, under acclaimed executive pastry chef Linda Kotze for two years

• Selected as pastry chef for South Africa’s junior national culinary team

• Advance Diploma in Pastry – City & Guilds

• Competed at the World Championships, Maastricht, Holland, in 2001, and won a gold medal. Also awarded as the most promising pastry chef in the world

• Graced the Savoy Hotel, London, UK

• Opened a fine dining experience restaurant, @ The Square in the arty town of Clarens in the Free State

• Employed as executive pastry chef at the Michelangelo Hotel, Sandton, for two years

• Employed as executive pastry chef at the Saxon Boutique Hotel and Spa, Sandhurst, Johannesburg, for three and a half years

• Competed in the Salon Culinaire in 2007, achieved first and second place in the Showpiece section

• Advisory pastry chef at the Castle Kyalami Hotel, Johannesburg

• Co-owner, program director, principle, advance diploma pastry lecturer of the FBI Chef School and Patisserie Academy.

• Featured in magazines like Good Taste, The Culinary Artist, Food & Home, Sarie, Rooi Rose, Inflight and Huisgenoot

• Media: Pasella (@ the square restaurant Clarens, 2005), Kwêla (2010), Tuine & Tossels (Sugar Creations, 2008), Tuine & Tossels (Christmas, 2010), SABC news (chocolate wedding dress, 2010), SABC news (chocolate lathe work, 2012), SABC news (chocolate rhino, 2013), SABC Expresso (edible chocolate painting, 2014)

Where did your love for cooking come from?

It was definitely inspired by my grandmother Lammie Louw (born in Namibia in Grootfontein).

With my hearing problem, I was always indoors with her, and she always kept me busy in the kitchen baking something for an order and helping her out with the household’s daily meals.

How did you end up in pastry?

My passion for the craft existed from the start. I got very excited seeing a cake at the age of 12 in a small town called Venterstad (in the Northern Cape). That got me hooked. My gran noticed my reaction and took it to heart. She bought me books, read with me, bought me equipment and kept the orders coming.

What’s the magic of your job?

The daily growth, seeing my students expanding their knowledge and gaining confidence. What warms my heart is seeing them years later and where they are and the position they’ve taken responsibility for.

What are the difficulties of your job?

I just want to be in the kitchen all day, but in reality the job includes admin as well. The admin side of running a school is my biggest challenge, but I do believe all good and great things in life require compromise. I doesn’t bother me any more - it just takes up a lot of my time. I believe I’ve struck a balance between the two after years of focusing on this.

What exactly do you do?

I’m the principle and advance pastry lecturer at the FBI chef school in Johannesburg. We’ve been open now for 10 years and the Bloemfontein branch for 12 years. I have a business partner, Chef Lesley Jacobs, who runs the Bloemfontein branch. I teach our third-year pastry students advanced pastry techniques - ranging from chocolate, sugar, wedding cakes, high tea, plated desserts, breads and pastries, to speciality cakes and confection. I also present a lot of part time classes where my advanced students get the opportunity to train with me. Other than that, I spend a lot of time with my office manager on the admin side. What brings balance to my life is definitely the school’s gardens and my garden at house. I’m blessed with green fingers!

What is your fondest food memory?

Having brunch at the Jemerah Hotel in Dubai. This was a food experience like none before!

Favourite cuisine in the world?

French (with a twist)

If you could meet any other chef in the world, who would it be and why?

Paco Terra Blanca, he is a huge inspiration for the pastry world, Spanish with true passion.

Are you looking forward to your visit to Namibia?

Besides the fact that my family was all born in this beautiful country, yes, I’m looking forward to inspiring chefs and sharing knowledge about sugar and chocolate.

*Catch Chef Nicolas van der Walt live in action at the Namibia Tourism Expo from 30 May to 2 June at the Windhoek Show Grounds.