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Profile | A pastry chef’s journey from McDonald’s to fulfilling her dream at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong hotel and working at the Sheraton
- As a student, Chase Tse Ka-wai used to bake for her classmates and old people. Now she is the pastry sous chef at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers
- A stint at the Mandarin Oriental was a dream come true for Tse, who tells Bernice Chan her next goal is to compete in the World Chocolate Masters
Reading Time:4 minutes
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“In high school, I took economics and learned how to cook and bake cakes. One time, my classmates and I volunteered to make cookies for the elderly and we chipped in to buy an oven; I kept it at home as I was in charge of baking. The seniors liked them.
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“I also tried to make macarons and failed over 10 times. I read many books and online recipes on how to make them, and even took a class, but mine didn’t work out. I also learned how to make panna cotta in cups, with layers of different flavours but the flavours didn’t match so it didn’t taste good.
“To save up for baking ingredients, I started working part time at McDonald’s when I was 15 years old. I liked baking because I gave the finished products to my classmates who praised me.
“I felt like I had achieved something. If my cakes or cookies didn’t work out, then I didn’t take them to school and gave them to my dad to eat instead. He didn’t mind.”
Where did you learn your pastry skills?
“I didn’t have the grades to get into university, so I applied for the pastry course at the Vocational Training Council. My dad was very open-minded and let me pursue this path. The two-year course is called Western pastry, bakery and confectionery and they teach fundamentals like how to make bread. For desserts, they teach how to make panna cotta and what sauces can accompany it.
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