Joy, a Podcast. Hosted by Craig Ferguson - Stephanie Boswell

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

Meet Stephanie Boswell, an internationally acclaimed pastry chef, creator of the Faberge Egg, a signature dessert that has received worldwide recognition and the Foie Gras Candy Bar, which the late Anthony Bourdain called a “must-do in Las Vegas.” Catch her on first season of  NEXT BAKING MASTER now, enJOY!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Do it. When I do live gigs around the country, I'll be honest with you, I sell t-shirts and swag to the folks who are there. And then people always say, can we get the swag without sitting through a whole evening of you? Well, it's happened. It's finally here. You can buy Craig Ferguson merch on the Craig Ferguson merch website, and you can buy it for yourself or someone you hate or someone you love. For more information and link to the web store, please go to thecraigfergusonshow.com. That's all lowercase, thecraigfergusonshow.com. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of this podcast is Joy. I talk to interesting people

about what brings them happiness. Sorry for eating. I'm just finishing my Fabergé egg because my guest today is Stephanie Boswell, who is the creator of one of the most famous desserts in the world, the Fabergé egg. And she's really clever and funny. Enjoy. How have you been? You know, kind of okay. Just okay? Yeah, no, I'll be all right. I mean, I've been busy.

You have been busy. Yeah, I've been busy. I don't know what happened. I started, like, I didn't work for a while. I don't know if you've ever tried this, but, like, not working. Oh, yeah. I gave it a go. I did not care for it personally it sucks it's the worst like you don't work and you just sit around thinking about things that you're not or scrolling scrolling yeah are you a scroller uh i just recently became a scroller and i'm

gonna be honest uh it's the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Or the human race maybe. Potentially. Yeah. I think it's awful. I've never in my life had trouble sleeping until the short format scroll. Yeah, it's that little magnifying glass on Instagram. People who listen to this podcast will get really

mad probably because I say this at every episode and I feel like they feel like I'm judging them and I'm not judging them but I don't like it for myself much judgment I'm a fucking judgy man I fucking am I mean I feel it's sitting here right now you know I'm not judging you I walk in looking like a Bratz doll that might kill you like the Chucky version of a Bratz doll and the judgment no judgment I said you look sensational I said judgment. I said you look sensational. I said you look sensational. You do look like a goth Bratz doll, though. I think it's great.

It's a fabulous look. You're the best pastry chef in the world, officially. Is that right? Oh, my God. Not even close. Not even close. No, it's true because I have, I don't know if you know this, you know how David Lynch has best dressed people of the year?

Sure, sure, sure, sure. Well, I have my own version of that. It's pastry chef of the year. And you've won. Oh, my God. You've won. Oh, my God. Can we cue some kind of music, like a swell of a string section?

We'll put it in post. It'll all be there. And there'll be a prize, obviously. What kind of prize? What's the prize? Is there prize money involved with this? You get a ham. Ham.

A ham. You get a ham. What type of ham? Is it honey baked? I don't know. You're the chef. You get a raw ham. You just get a pig.

You get a pig. You get to raise it. You get a pig. You have to raise the pig. Slore the pig as you would. Name it. Have get a pig, you have to raise the pig, slaughter the pig as you would. Name it. Have you ever had to do that? I have.

I have. See, I don't think I could be a chef because I think all that killing stuff. Do you kill stuff? I did when I was younger. I used to spend time on a ranch over the summer to build character. Right.

Was it one of those skip straight things in Utah or something? It was. It was Sally Jessie Raphael actually sent me there. Oh, yeah. Right. Okay. And yeah, you kind of, you become accustomed to the idea of like certain animals you name, and certain animals you don't. And the ones you name, like work around the ranch, they have a job. Horses and stuff. Horses, dogs horses dogs cats you know things like that but thousands of cows no you don't don't don't get named you don't really want to get attached in that sort of way i just i don't think i could do it like even people who go

hunting i'm like i don't think i could do it you know hunting is i mean i i sort of appreciate hunting in that idea of you know when i feel like vegans would sort of appreciate a hunter. I feel like a vegan would go, you know what? Depends on the vegan. You took it down fair dues. Well, okay. I mean, you took it down with what? Are you an AK-47 or a knife between your teeth?

Is it a fair fight? Yeah. Are you hunting it with a bow and arrow or is it some sort of mass slaughter? Also bow and arrow. Have you been to L.L. Bean in Maine and seen the bow and arrows you can buy? This is not Robin Hood we're talking here. I haven't. Honestly, the first time I went to Maine was, what, two years ago, give or take? And it's absolutely gorgeous. Here's a fun fact.

I am horrible with geography, specifically American geography. I didn't realize Maine was part of New England. What did you think it was? I thought it was like kind of up by thought it was kind of up by Canada. It is up by Canada. Yeah, but I didn't realize that also New England was up by Canada. Oh, I see. The accent threw me for a bit of a loop because it was a bit family guy.

Yeah, it was definitely a little family guy. Yeah, but that's set in Rhode Island, isn't it? Which is near. I see the problem now. I see what you're saying. I'm sorry. I didn't understand for a minute. Now I understand. I don't it? Which is near. I see the problem now. I see what you're saying. I'm sorry. I didn't understand for a minute. Now I understand.

I don't know how to more simply put, I'm terrible at geography. You're the best pastry chef in the world. You won the Craig Ferguson Esteemed Pastry Chef Challenge this year. And for that, I am forever grateful. Well, you won it for the... That thing that made you famous

as a pastry chef, the Faberge egg thing. Is that made of actual gold? Yeah. There's real gold in it, right? Yeah. So how do you make a, like, can you give a recipe out? Can you say, this is how I do it?

Sure. I mean, it's more technique than anything else. The ingredients aren't necessarily. That's kind of what I thought. It's like somebody saying, oh, I've got some wheels and an engine, go make yourself a car. Sure. Yeah, it's a little bit like

I've got metal and rubber, I made a Model T. Right. But it's skill. Yeah, the raw ingredients are there for everyone. But yeah, it's basically just casting in the best ingredients

you can find and then after that point it becomes sort of just, how do you manipulate those ingredients to be the most beautiful, perfect that you possibly can? Is there tasting along the way, though? Oh, yeah. Because, I mean, it's such an intricate thing to make a Fabergé egg

out of basically, I guess, sugar mostly. Chocolate. Chocolate. I would just start crying and eat all the chocolate. That's my technique. That's also part of the methodology. Yeah, that's a big part of it. Halfway through, you begin to cry.

And just eat the chocolate. And just eat it and then start over. How did you start off being a, like did you, like when you were a little girl, you're like, I want to be a pastry chef? No, no, no. I wanted no i wanted i mean well you know i wanted to be all kinds of things when i was really little i read the hot zone when i was like 12 it's a book about ebola and oh you you wanted to be a virus i wanted to be i wanted to grow up to be the best virus I could. Yeah, we got one.

I wanted to be an epidemiologist or a virologist. It's science, though. It's science. It's into it. So you wanted to be into chemistry then? You were in high school? Loved chemistry. Right.

So now it begins to make sense. It begins to take shape. So you're into chemistry because what you do is really a science. It's a science and an art. Yeah. You definitely have to know, you know, because a lot of people say, oh, I'm horrible at baking. I'm terrible.

I could never get it right. And it really does become, it's sort of, it's science and it's also repetition, right? There's nothing about what chefs do that is so spectacular. Like, as chefs, I feel comfortable in saying this, we didn't become chefs because NASA wasn't challenging enough. You know, we didn't leave NASA and go, you know what? I just want to bake. Yeah. Forget rockets.

Right. Forget rockets. We want to make mattresses. More chocolate. More chocolate. So, yeah, it's really just repetition it's access to ingredients it's access to different um equipment which nowadays with you know the internet yeah um is extremely accessible to almost everyone are you telling

me that it's like practice i think i am. So it's like a musical instrument or something? Or like anything else, you just got to keep doing. Right, but do it for a living. And it sort of incentivizes you to practice a little bit more. Because no one's going to let a 12-year-old girl who wants to be a virus come into the kitchen and make dessert. You'd be surprised. There has to be a journey from budding epidemiologist to Faber-Shevgen in Las Vegas. So what's the journey from there to there then? So what starts with, why did you go off germs?

Well, it's one of those, it's the butterfly effect, right? Right. So growing up, I was the youngest in my family. I was the only girl. So I got full attention from my mother of, you know, like getting the most sort of education and the most exposure to different things. So every weekend we would go to art museums and it was very like, it felt sort of like being a human project. very like it felt sort of like being a human project right um and so i grew up just loving science and art and all of that and then went to college and where did you grow up i grew up in los angeles so what so you're going to moma and you're going to the getty and going to that kind

of thing and like one guy named uh rita wilson yeah exactly r Rita Wilson, the only people that grew up here. That's it. Yeah, MoMA, LACMA was a huge one for me. The La Brea Tar Pits. I mean, you want to give a kid a great day. La Brea Tar Pits. I have two children I've raised in Los Angeles, and I'm familiar with your so-called La Brea Tar Pits. Well, no, they're not so-called. They are actually called that. Yeah, you're right. Oh, so-called. They are actually called that.

Yeah, you're right. Oh, so-called La Brea tarpits. I'm sorry, it's a Scottish thing. I'm just like trying to make everything sound shit if it's not Scottish. But oh, so-called. In Scotland, there's tarpits where they're not La Brea. But then you go back to Scotland. I do.

And I'm sure people say you sound like Marilyn Monroe. They get very upset about my accent. Do people say you sound like Marilyn Monroe. They get very upset about my accent. Do people say you sound Scottish when you're in Los Angeles? Yes. Because you've been to Scotland. I saw you there.

Yeah. I saw you. You were at my house. Your birthday bash. By the way, did you get COVID or that? No. Because everybody got COVID.

See, now I can't stop. It's all right. Yeah, everybody got COVID. Like 57 people got COVID at that party. You hosted the most spectacular super spreader I've ever been to. It was a bit of a super spreader. It was a banger. It was a banger, yeah.

It was great. It was a lot of COVID. I mean, no, I honestly think, because we got COVID upon returning, and I truly believe it was from the, We got COVID upon returning, and I truly believe it was from the, because right when we were taking off was when the mask mandate lifted. Right. We're sitting in the plane. Right.

And they come over the PA system and say, the mask mandate has been lifted. Take your mask off, have a sneeze. Yeah, if you want to take your mask off, take it off, have fun. And literally the plane cheered. Oh, wow. Clapped and cheered, took their masks off it was a whole whole thing and then we come back and we're standing in line at at customs to get back into the country and it is just a cattle call yeah i mean just you're boxed i mean you know the global entry thing no you got to get the global entry. I do now, but at the time I didn't. Yeah, that's a big difference. Well, yeah, I know.

Well, you were still in Al-Qaeda at the time. That's probably why you were probably. I was flying the flag. I mean, when you're younger, you do things that you regret. You can't take them back. Yeah, no, you can't undo it. You think about it later on and you cringe. You know, I have to say i feel

for the young people right now all the stupid mistakes that they're making they're all going to be available all documented all documented yeah that's crazy isn't it awful right and yeah i feel so bad like on one hand i feel you know like i feel sort of like oh these kids aren't going to have any of these embarrassing makeup and hair mistakes that i had growing up of like, oh, these kids aren't going to have any of these embarrassing makeup and hair mistakes that I had growing up. Like now I look back at the way I styled myself when I was a teenager in my early 20s and kind of recoil at what was happening there. Part of life. Yeah. They're not going to have that because they've got, you know, millions of tutorials on how to look beautiful at all times.

I disagree. Yeah. Disagree. Disagree. They've got millions of tutorials on how to look beautiful at all times. I disagree. Yeah? Okay, disagree, disagree. Well, the only thing I think is because you still, even no matter how well it's applied, you're going to look back at it 10 years ago. What the fuck was I thinking? The other thing is it's recycling so fast now. That's true, yeah, you're right. Now there's people on, there's YouTubers that do specifically makeup and beauty.

And they're saying things like 2016 makeup is back. It's like 2016. That's like 20 minutes ago. What are you talking about? I just dreamed about 2016. What is happening? I'm Angie Martinez. Check out my podcast where I talk to some of the biggest athletes,

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on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Mom's taking you to museums in Los Angeles, and you're looking at, what art are you looking at? I guess you're looking at everything. It's a real eclectic. So from Barbizon, French Impressionists, all the way up to Warhol, Abstract Expressionism, all that kind of stuff. You're looking at all of that. Everything. And you think, cake. No, not right away. No, not right away.

Not right away. I thought, I like this. It's fantastic. It's something that, you know, I find a lot of joy in. Spending every weekend at a museum or the Huntington or going to an opera. Like, it all sort of influenced and then got into college. Where did you study at college? Art history and chemistry.

Art history and chemistry. There it is. Now it begins to form out of the mist, right? Exactly. Yeah, I see. And then I started doing sort of the mental math of, I don't actually want to do any of the jobs that a degree in art history or chemistry would lead to. Okay.

What would they lead to, I guess? Like museum creator? Right. Curator or, you know, like lab tech. Late night host. Late night host is like way down the list. That's like beyond realtor. What did you study?

Communications. Was it communications? In a way, yeah. In a way, I studied chemistry and communications. These were my majors. So you're looking at these things, and none of the things that you're studying lead you to the job you want. Right. And I didn't know what I wanted at that point.

Okay. I think now, as an adult looking back, it's really bizarre and almost cruel to say, you're 18, what do you want to do forever? I couldn't agree more. What do you want to do for the rest of your life? Let me invest $100,000 that will cripple you financially into something you think of. Good luck with $100,000, by the way. It's been a while since you've been at college.

I've got kids. What is it now? Eye-watering? Yeah, it's too much like a house but um yeah i i basically i was sort of stuck and i didn't know what i wanted to do with my life and i was talking to my brother about it and i sort of had this i always loved to cook my grandmother taught me to cook i cooked constantly and this is interesting to me because a lot of pastry chefs that I know, and I admittedly, you're the only one, but a lot of cooks, people that I know that work in kitchens,

and I do know my brother-in-law is a chef and my sister-in-law is a chef, but they kind of fall into people who cook or people who bake. Sure. Is that a real thing? Sure, it is so culinary i it the way i generally explain it as culinary is just a big uh imagine it as a big graph like a big pie chart right within that is specializations so a specialization is pastry of culinary you need to know how to cook in order to do pastry right and then from that specialization

you can specialize even further into all i do is venoiserie or all i said venoiserie is a it's like croissants laminated doughs all of that like beautiful yeah exactly i love venoiserie and there's people who do like the most astounding things with it that would, I mean, just make your nose bleed looking at them. Like, just incredible work. And then from there, you can also specialize in wedding cakes. All you do is wedding cakes. All you do is sculpted cakes. All you do is ice cream.

All you do is sugar sculptures. All you do is chocolate sculptures. There's so many different specializations. Like, it's niche on niche on niche i love this yeah it's getting really interesting is that what happened to you i'm glad no but is that what happened to you that you you kind of go i like that and then you start to kind of zero in a little more on on yeah or how it makes you feel does it make you feel different i just sort of fell into it honestly because i i was talking to my brother and he said you know i said i think i want to go to culinary school and my family would you know at that point

in time cooking was not fashionable being a chef was not fashionable it was not you know the pre bourdain years yeah this was this was pre sort of food network years this was you know cooking and being a chef was sort of seen as a tradecraft. You know, it would be the same as like saying... In America. I mean, in France, it's been... Oh, sure. You're an artist. Sure.

It's from way back, right? Oh, very different culture in France about that. I mean, you can start when you're 16 and just go, you know what? High school is not for me. I'd like to bake. And that's generally why everyone feels a lot of kind of competitive spirit with the French is because they start from such a young age and they have, I mean, by the time an American kid finishes culinary school, they're already six years behind a French person. French kid. Right. So, so what happened? What culinary school did you go to?

Oh, I just went to a little trade school in Orange County because I had already spent you go to? Oh, I just went to a little trade school in Orange County because I had already spent enough money and I knew, and I was old enough at that point to know if I go to like a proper CIA or one of these schools that costs a lot of money, I'm going to still start at the same place in a kitchen. I'm going to still start as a prep cook, possibly even a dishwasher. I've done that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's how you start. That's the highest rung I got in the culinary world. Well, it's a good rung. I mean, everyone is super important in the kitchen. And you know, it's a pirate ship, right? So it sort of draws these people in that have all sort of universally

decided we don't want to grow up for a living. It is a world to itself, right? It's like your hours are different. It's collegiate. It is kind of like a pirate ship, really, isn't it? Yeah. So you go to this place, and how long are you at the… Two years. Two years.

And I worked at the same time. And you come out, and now you speak fluent French. Absolutely. And you were working in a you speak fluent French. Absolutely. Well, you were working in a kitchen at the same time? I was. I was. I was working in a kitchen at the same time and also bartending to keep a roof over my head. Any fancy places that we would know or just places we would know? Yeah. I mean, I worked at Pelican Hill. I worked at the...

Is that a golf club? It is. It's down in Newport Coast. It's very fancy. Oh, that sounds quite fancy. Yeah, it's very fancy. So you're making like turkey clubs? Well, the country club I was making, I started out on, you know, just garde manger. Well, I started out on prep. So prep is what? If you don't know a kitchen, what is prep?

Prep is a lot of chopping. You're cutting a lot of vegetables. You're making stock. You're making so much Prep is a lot of chopping. You're cutting a lot of vegetables. You're making stock. You're making so much stock. A lot of soup. Not even soup. You're not responsible for... Yeah.

You're making the basics of soup. The beginnings of soup. You're cutting carrots and onions and celery. Is that why they call it a sous chef? Because it's not full soup. It's just soup. And then you add the pea later. Made myself laugh.

And yeah. And I mean, there was, you know, there was steam jackets, there's these enormous kettles. You know, I'm 5'5", and the kettle was probably 6'2". I mean, enormous. And I would have to, like, dig in there, literally crawl inside a kettle just to clean it out. You could have been boiled to death. I could have.

Oh my God, that's horrifying. And yet I survived. Has that ever happened? Has anyone ever been, you know what, I bet it has, so I don't want to talk about it. It probably has. So you're working on prep and you're studying. Yeah.

And so now at this point, do you start to go, I know what area of the kitchen I want to work in? No. You still don work in? No. You still don't know? No. Because at this point, I sucked. I was terrible. I honestly believe, and I don't know if it's my own imposter syndrome or what,

but I honestly believe there's no such thing as someone that's just naturally suited for a kitchen. It's a different culture. It's a different life. Oh, yeah. I've been around them enough to know. Yeah. You've got to get a little bit of runway there. I think people can be born with a natural inclination to understanding flavor and color and balance and texture and all of these things. But actually working in a kitchen is a very different thing.

It's a rock band mentality as well. It's a little bit. A lot of drugs as well. A lot of drugs, a lot of bad behavior, a lot of staying up too you know as long as you can do the one thing that you do it doesn't matter how you live your life everywhere else all that kind of stuff a lot of burning the candles at both ends especially in your 20s but well you know then you get you know for me specifically i hit the i hit my 30th year and i thought wait you, that's not cute anymore. I did. I didn't even know you were 30 now. I did, 10 years ago. Oh, well, muzzled off. Thank you.

You know what I say? It's all the moisture being inside those big steamy pots. It's kept your skin so fresh. I've braised myself. You're like a beautiful braised cook. I've been poached. So you're 30 now. No, I'm 40 now. No, but what I'm saying is we're on your journey poached. So you're 30 now. No, I'm 40 now.

No, but what I'm saying is we're on your journey. Oh, no, no, no. You're not 30 yet? At this point, I'm early 20s. Right. It's all sort of a glittery haze. I like it, though, that the haze is glittery. Glittery and like, you know, at that point I was smoking and like going outside for breaks and waxing poetic on the meaning of life.

But I knew enough then to know if I can learn every single station, they can't fire me. So I just need to learn, like, because right now I'm on prep. If I learn how to do, you know, the Fry Station, if I learn how to do like every single different station how many stations is it like stations of the cross or similar to stations of the cross more frying yeah more frying more making of sandwiches right um yeah it's very it depends on the the kind of kitchen you work in so extremely traditional french kitchens will have like a different person for just making sauces a different person for just doing intermezzo a different person's intermezzo intermezzo is a course in your dinner wherein you have it's almost like a break so you have like a little bit of celery sorbet. Okay. With a sour cherry. And a mousse bouche, but a mousse in the middle.

Exactly. Right, okay. Exactly. Not a mousse bouche at the beginning, because that's the beginning. Correct. A mousse bouche is at the beginning. Intermezzo is somewhere in between. Right.

Just to sort of... And then when's raclette? That's at the end? Yeah. Okay. Raclette. Raclette! Oh, I love raclette.

I've got some in the fridge right now. And then you've got mignardise for the finale. What's mignardise? Mignardise is the same sort of like tiny little bite, but it's usually sweet. And it can also be kind of given as like a takeaway. So this feels to me like it's all kind of French. Is it a French restaurant? Most things are sort of based around the French brigade.

Really? Yeah, most kitchens are structured loosely around that, some more stringently. Even like in an Italian restaurant and stuff? Yeah. Really? I mean, I've never worked in an Italian restaurant. But yeah, it's all sort of based on this similar brigade

of this is like the hierarchy. I guess a guitar has six strings and how you play it and how it's done is different. But that's what it is. That's the instrument. So you learn all the different stations in the kitchen for job security. Correct. Because I figure they can't fire me if I know everything. That's true.

You'd be surprised. Fortunately, they can't fire me if I know everything. That's true. You'd be surprised. Fortunately, they didn't. And then at one point, I don't know what, I mean, a lot of the different things transpired. So the pastry department suffered losses. There was, you know, one girl moved to the Bahamas, one guy got fired, one guy just quit. So they basically lost the entire department within a week or so. I mean, it was dramatic. I'm seeing an opportunity for you here. Precisely, my friend. So the executive chef came to like gathered around all the cooks and said, who would

like to go help out pastry for a bit because they're suffering. And my hand shut up and I said, I will do it. Because again, job security. So I go start working in pastry and realize, oh my God, it's art and chemistry. Chemistry. It's art. It's science. It's all the things. And it's in a kitchen. And it's in a kitchen and it has all the kind of things you like. This is great. And so now you find your thing. So now I find my thing.

And you start burning sugar with little things. Creme brulee. Lots of creme brulee. Do they start letting you make your own desserts at that point? No. Oh, God, no. No. My God.

I feel such a fool. Craig. So you make what you're told by the executive chef. Yeah. Well, by the executive pastry chef. So there's an executive chef and then executive pastry chef. Correct. Okay.

Correct. Yeah. The brigade. Pirate ship, right? Right. So there's a very… Captain, first mate, crocodile. Nautical things. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Crocodile. I don't know. So the executive pastry chef says, okay, today you're making creme brulee and a fabergé egg. No, executive pastry chef, I mean, it depends on where you work. But at a country club, for instance, it's usually more along the lines of, you're going to be making 6,000 chocolate chip cookies today. Oh, Jesus. That's hard. And then after that, you're going to be making, give or take, a thousand brownies.

And then we've got, you know, on the fly, someone wants a birthday cake, so we're going to need to make that. And it's very, it's very kind of,

I don't want to say grunt work, but it's very, like, repetitive. It's repetitive. It's big and it's repetitive. So when do you start getting to feel like you're being creative in this environment not for quite a few years you're you know you you and that's part of the the brilliance and the importance of working for a lot of different chefs is you want to learn as much as you can from each person you

work under right because each person you work under because each person you work under has you know a mirror you know it's the sort of the spider web thing almost like this like red red string theory of like everywhere they've learned from so they've learned from all of these different chefs throughout their careers and they're funneling all of that information into you and then you take all of that information, go to another chef, and you've got another, let's say, six chefs that your next chef has worked under. So you're just collating and constantly trying to sponge in as much information and as many recipes as you can and different techniques. So this sounds to me like a world that's very involved and very insular,

right? Yes, can be can be right so then how come because you're a food network star i think i think we can say that the greatest pastry chef in the world and a star of the food network i mean i am the winner of the coveted craig ferguson pastry chef of the year award which is like you can have a michelin star award but that's the one they're all after. It's a new award and it's only about half an hour old. But how do you get into the more kind of show business element? Presumably this time, I feel like Bourdain is like Jackie Robinson in a way a little bit. He kind of changes it.

Is that right to say that? Yeah, Bourdain, I mean, Bourdain changed so much of the culture, you know. And he brought the culture of the kitchen into a world that like, you know, didn't want to necessarily see it. And like, and he made it cool and he made it rock star. And like, I mean, it's him and then there's cool and he made it rock star and like i mean it's it's him and then there's marco pierre white of course yeah i mean in the uk right yeah who was absolutely the like you know he's terrible he's like the eggy pop right oh my god eggy pop 100 like you know growing up in the kitchen and hearing stories about how he would walk out into the dining room and tell people to, you know, yeah, like, like, you don't like the food, you can have food somewhere else.

Like, that is like, that was revolutionary for me because I, you know, the kitchens I worked in, it was always the culture of the word no doesn't exist. It simply doesn't. So hearing that, like, like someone was like ballsy enough to do that he was doing that like in the 80s yeah marco pierre oh yeah you can go on google and see videos of marco pierre white like in his younger days smoking and gordon ramsey is like 17 years old in the background kind of looking like wild-eyed and kind of goofy. And Marco Piero like ruffles his hair a little bit and is like his big brother. I mean, it's just adorable.

But to get to your question, how do you translate that into television? Yeah, how do you end up in show business? In show business? Well, you kind of are now. I know. It's such a bizarre thing for me to say out loud because I still, you know, I have trouble sort of wrapping my head around that reality because I still see myself as just a chef. And so it's like, yeah, I'm on TV. know like even if like if you're a laundromat you have an instagram account and like come down to the laundromat today look at these sheets my god you got all the blood out this time let's play a game of blood or poop we may never know yeah so how do you make the transition then

what happens i mean i'm not sure i've had this question a lot, especially from, you know, like former colleagues and stuff asking me. How do I do it? Yeah. How can they get into it? And for me, it was the most bizarre experience. I was at, you know, I was at the Peninsula, Beverly Hills, and I'd been there for many years. You were working in the kitchen there? I was the executive pastry chef, yeah.

Ah, but this time you're the... I'm the boss. This is... You're the... Like, you decide who's making the cookies. Correct. Right. And it ain't me.

It ain't you. Well, it was. It was. It was still. I'm the boss, but I'm also the person I boss around. Yeah, I never wanted to be... Like, because I grew up with so many chefs

that were, you know, very hands-off and very, you know, delegatory. Nice work. Thank you. To the point where you start sort of, you know, again, the pirate ship analogy. You're not going to get a lot of respect from your cooks if you don't actually get in there with them and sort of and fight side by side um so i was there and the we would do these sort of media walkarounds right so it would be like you know a writer from harper's bazaar and a writer from uh forbes and you know all these different sort of media sorts would come in and we'd show them a lovely time and we'd teach them a cooking class and then

they would get a beautiful tour of our brand new kitchen and our brand new restaurants and they'd sit down. And it's a show business environment because it's the peninsula and Beverly Hills, right? Correct. So the executive chef at that point was supposed to be doing their cooking class for them and it's only like, you know, 15, 30 minutes long. And he runs into the pastry shop and says, Steph, I can't do it. I'm not feeling well. I need to go. There's a media group coming in that needs a cooking class.

And it's in 15 minutes. And it needs to be something healthy. So have fun. Good luck. You're the pastry chef. How are you doing the healthy thing? You work in sugar. Yeah, exactly.

Right. Exactly what I thought. I'm like, healthy? Okay. Not a fruit bowl, though. Like, what am I doing? I don't know. I'm outraged for you.

This is terrible. This is a terrible idea. The audacity. Yeah. The circus of audacity. Yeah. So I think to myself, all right, pastry is normally also in charge of the cheese program of most restaurants and hotels. Ah, the cheese program.

It's my favorite show on the BBC. Yes. The best one. Welcome to the cheese program. And all the contestants are so nice. They're so kind to me. Today we're looking at Stilton. Stilton.

It's a lovely cheese. Worcester. I don't even know what I'm saying. It you. Today we're looking at Stilton. Stilton. It's a lovely cheese. Worcester. I don't even know what I'm saying. It's a veiny cheese. It's a veiny Worcester Gloucestershire cheese. Lovely, lovely cheese. From all the sheeps in the county. Mostly just Margaret.

All of the sheeps we euthanize with a soft pillow here in Kent. I'm Angie Martinez. Check out my podcast where I talk to some of the biggest athletes, musicians, actors in the world. We go beyond the headlines and the soundbites to have real conversations about real life, death, love, and everything in between. This life right here, just finding myself, just relaxation, just not feeling stressed, just not feeling pressed. This is what I'm most proud of. I'm proud of Mary because I've been through hell and some horrible things. That feeling that I had of inadequacy is gone.

You're going to die being you. So you got to constantly work on who you are to make sure that the stars align correctly. Life ain't easy and it's getting harder and harder. So if you have a story to tell,

if you've come through some trials, you need to share it because you're going to inspire someone. You're going to give somebody the motivation to not give up, to not quit.

Listen to Angie Martinez IRL on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Guess what, Mango? What's that, Will? So iHeart is giving us a whole minute to promote our podcast, Part-Time Genius. I know. That's why I spent my whole week composing a haiku for the occasion. It's about my emotional journey in podcasting over the last seven years, and it's called Earthquake House. Mango, I'm going to cut you off right there. Why don't we just tell people about our show instead? Yeah, that's a better idea. So every week on Part-Time Genius, we feed our curiosity by

answering the world's most important questions. Things like, when did America start dialing 911? Is William Shatner's best acting work in Esperanto? Also, what happened to Esperanto? Plus, we cover questions like how Chinese is your Chinese food? How do dollar stores stay in business? And of course, is there an Illuminati of cheese? There absolutely is. And we are risking our lives by talking about it. But if you love mind blowing facts, incredible history and really bad jokes, make your brains happy and tune in to Part-Time Genius. Listen to Part-Time Genius on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Back in 1969, this was the hottest song around.

So hot that some guys from Michigan tried to steal it. My name is Daniel Ralston. For 10 years, I've been obsessed with one of the most bizarre and audacious cons in rock and roll history. For 10 years, I've been obsessed with one of the most bizarre and audacious cons in rock and roll history. A group would have a hit record, and quickly they would hire a bunch of guys to go out and be the group. People were being cheated on several levels. After years of searching, we bring you the true story of the fake zombies. I was like blown away. These guys are not going to get away with it.

Listen to the true story of the fake zombies on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You've got 15 minutes to put together. You've got 15 minutes to put together a demo and also deep clean the kitchen because now we've got people coming in and taking photos and they're going to be writing about it and they're beautiful magazines and talking all about it so it's it needs to be like everything needs to be scrubbed surgically so i'm thinking all right i'll teach them how to make ricotta it's cheese of course cheese all protein it takes no time to make it takes like two ingredients and it's super i mean it's just super clean super easy and then you can do all these things of like and you can put

some strawberries with with a bit of a spring balsamic glaze a balsamic glaze and perhaps a sprig of something a sprig sprig a sprig of shovel yeah that's what I was thinking. Yeah. So, did that. And it went well. It went great. They came through. I, you know, showed them the kitchen. I showed them my sourdough starter, which at that point in time was named Amy Winehouse because I love her. I'm just going to stop you for a second because I have chefs in my family.

And I've heard them say sourdough starter. I don't know what that is. So sourdough starter is basically a way of creating your own yeast. So you take flour, usually bread flour, but you can use any that you like, and water. And that's it. You combine them and with that hydration, the natural sugars start developing, and the yeast that exists naturally on all things that are organic begin to eat said sugar. And then they grow, and then you feed them again, and the yeast grows and grows and grows and grows, and develops a really beautiful sort of aged flavor.

And it becomes an organic thing. That's why you give it a name? Yeah. Well, it's sort of like having a pet. I mean, it'll never die. Well, that's what I was going to say. My sister-in-law has one. She comes from a very old Western family.

They've had the same sourdough starter from like the Civil War or something. That's amazing. It's crazy. What does it smell like? I don't know. I'm not allowed to get near oh i want to know now it's just it's like locked in a like it's locked in a cupboard somewhere yeah it's i mean but i think she gives like bits of it to people and stuff like that yeah you can the

original sort of yeast of it won't die necessarily so it's you know it will change over time with different saturations. So say like the Civil War era yeast, it still exists somewhere in there, but it has been significantly diluted over the last 120 years or so, just with new flowers that bring in different types of yeast from wherever they are in the country. So it is a constantly changing organic thing that lives in Tupperware? Sure. Some people do like glassware. I have a big Cambro. Is that like a chef thing?

I'm sorry. I thought it was like a Camaro. Does it have an eagle on the hood? It's exactly like a Camaro. Yes, I keep it inside a Camaro. I keep my sounder starter, drives a camaro yes i keep it inside i keep my sound and starter drives a camaro that's how wealthy i've become it's uh cambro is um it's a brand it's almost it's sort of like kleenex at this point i feel like it's a brand name but it describes like this sort of storage unit that kitchens use and they've got different

colored lids so like a two quart cambro is just a little two-quart square container, and they stack perfectly on each other. Sounds like Tupperware to me. Yeah, it's basically, yeah, it's industrial Tupperware. Right, got it. Yeah. So you show these people around your sourdough starter. You introduce them to your sourdough starter.

You're so good at keeping on track. I'm so bad at it, and you are really just helping out. I'm the pastry chef of the podcast. You really are. Right. So you do that, and you show them around, and they say, you're great, do you want to come and work in our show business world? Literally.

Really? Yeah. Yeah, that's actually what happened. So what was your first gig then? What happened? First gig, okay, so they're sitting down having lunch. I check in with them a few times just to make sure they're happy with everything they've had. I send them out a bunch of desserts, check in again.

And one of the women looks up and says, would you like a TV show? Wow. Just like that. That's like Hollywood. Yeah, like crazy. And at that point in time, I said, yeah. Yep. Don't threaten me with a good time.

Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I want all of that. So she said, great. My partner and I will be in contact with you next week. So talk to them. And we start developing a show about, interestingly enough, renovating, likeating kind of failing bakeries and pastry shops. We do a sizzle reel,

we shop it to Food Network, we shop it to a bunch of different producers, and they take on to it. I think at one point, what actually got me noticed was we did a sizzle reel for the show where I was just walking around los angeles eating at a bunch of different pastry shops right and i could have done that for you yeah

you should have come yeah that's tasty and um and one of them i said uh a very well-known pastry shop um i had an eclair and i said it's like a Honda Civic of Eclairs like it's not bad no it's functional it's functional it'll get you from point A to point B it'll Eclair your Eclair needs if you need an Eclair but it's not something that costs

$18 that's how much it was? yes! staggering, eye watering I mean just ridiculous extortionate amounts of money for a little tiny pastry. I'm angry.

You should be. I am. I was outraged. Yeah. I wrote a congressman. Congressman, we got a letter here from a... And since then, the restraining order is actually very good. Yes, I understand.

But yeah. And then from there, Food Network liked who i was i suppose you know like right like you are a vivacious attractive personality that that has a very marketable skill for a network called the food network it seems to make perfect sense. It does seem to add up. So we shot a show with them, which was like this pastry boot camp kind of show. And I loved it and I had so much fun doing it.

But the focus, but we didn't have a really cohesive idea of what it was. Like, is it a competition? Do they win something? Is it just for fun and frivolity? Because I was always sort of annoyed by Nailed It, the show, because Nailed It always felt like, it felt kind of mean girlsy. It felt sort of like poking fun at the slow kid.

And then, you know, like they're not actually learning how to do anything. They're just failing and we are supporting their failure. They're failing and we're laughing at it. Right. It felt sort of mean spirspirited to me. So I wanted to do a show that was actually like, okay, you're not good at baking. You have raised your hand in life

and said, I'm not good at baking. I want to get good. So we take these people and literally give them a two-day boot camp on how to bake and build a cake and then congratulate the person that made the most improvement from start to finish and gave them a KitchenAid mixer and stuff like that. And then, you know, like congratulate the person that made the most improvement from start to finish.

And, you know, gave them a KitchenAid mixer and stuff like that. A KitchenAid mixer is a great thing. I think so, too. I got mine at Best Buy with points from my credit card. Yeah. Well, when I say mine, you know, I've never used it, but. But it exists in your home. And if you ever do need to use it, it's there. You know, Megan cooks and does stuff.

She's good at it, actually. Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. She does that. Anyway, so what's the show you're doing now, then? Now, we're currently in, you know, it's airing, is the next Baking Master Colon, Paris. The next Baking Master Colon?

Yeah, yeah. Punctuation is important, Craig. So can it affect your colon being a baking master? Only in the best ways. Yeah, I guess it would. So you go to Paris and you what do you do there? Go to Paris

and we invite 10 American pastry chefs to come and compete. They all live together in one condo. They have to do that. That's the rule of those types of shows. It's amazing. It's amazing.

I mean, the fact that they all live together, like I didn't get to see any of that. So I was really only there for, you know, like what they produced and like watching. You're the Heidi Klum. It's like. I would never compare myself to... I think that's a great comparison.

You walk in and go, fashion, cookery is sometimes very tough. And you must. One day you're baking, the next day you're not baking! So you're Heidi Klum and you go, this is not tasty for me or this is tasty for me.

Correct. Do you use a fake... I do use a fake German accent. You're Heidi Klum and you go, this is not tasty for me or this is tasty for me. Correct. Right, okay. Correct. Do you use a fake? I do use a fake German accent, actually. Yeah, I think that's the way to go. Yeah. It was a little confusing at the time, but then I explained to people, imagine Heidi Klum. It's a good choice.

Imagine like eight feet of legs saying this. So now you are the world champion baker. Now you know who wins wins but you can't reveal it right of course not right okay what fun would that be that's madness now i want to take you back to the very beginning of our conversation oh my gosh because i talked to you about the fabergé egg you did made you famous way and i see right there, you said oui in the Parisian manner. It wasn't just oui as in we as in way as in like some smug French bastard who says you're not saying oui properly. So what led you to the Fabergé?

Because that's kind of a thing for you, isn't it? That's kind of your, like... I mean, what's interesting about, you know, any form of art, and I really do think that culinary and cooking is an art form. Undoubtedly. I wholeheartedly agree. It's a form of communication. And at that point in time, you know, I was in my early 30s,

and I was really, not to say I was angry, but I was in this headspace of like this almost fight club sort of headspace of I want to destroy something beautiful. Like all of the pieces of art I saw growing up, wouldn't it be fun to just throw paint? Wouldn't it like that intrusive thought sort of thing of something beautiful in front of you and you just get to smash it. Take the genre of late night, kick the living shit out of it. There you go.

Exactly, I understand. So, and I thought, you know, at that point in time, like, I want to make something beautiful. It takes hours to make one. And then give people the opportunity to just smash it to pieces. Eat it.

And eat it. Right. And destroy it. And that becomes the art. That's the, that is the thing. It's pieces. Eat it. And eat it and destroy it. And that becomes the art. That is the thing. It's not me making it. It's not the hours. It's not the gold.

It's not the colors. It's not all of the filigree work. It's the actual destruction of it that is the art. Nice. Punk rock mentality. I kind of love it. So you start to make this egg, these eggs. How do you make it?

Like the Fabergé egg based on, of course, the Fabergé eggs made for the Tsarina, was it? Yeah, it was like, you know, Russian aristocracy. I think it was some Bob Fabergé was making them. Yeah, to please his wife. It's God's way of saying you have too much money. One of God's ways of saying you have too much money. So yeah, I started making them. They're basically just, you know, the making of them is quite easy.

It's just molded chocolate into an egg shape. And then it becomes a little bit more challenging because you have to essentially fill it with dessert and then hand paint each one in different ways because each one was unique. There was no two the same. And each one was... And do you fill it like a syringe full of custard or something and you put it inside the egg?

I'm not going to tell you how it happens. It's got to be a syringe. Well, you know what? Who knows? Maybe it to be a syringe. Well, you know what? Who knows? Maybe it's not a syringe. Maybe it's a hatch. Maybe it's a hatch. It's a little hatch, and you fill it up with custard, and then you're right.

Okay. I love it. So you've filled your egg with custard. Yep. With a hatch. With a hatch. You've closed the hatch, and Now you have to decorate the outside. It's straight up sculpture at this point.

Yeah. Right? Yeah. It becomes, I mean, it's sculpture and it's also hand painting. And I gave, you know, each of my cooks was allowed to do as many as they wanted. It was sort of like a project of like each one of them could use whatever colors they want and decorate however they want. So you're an exec chef in the Fabergé egg. I'm interested.

And I wanted them to feel ownership. So this is like Lichtenstein with the paintings. It's like, you know, you're like, okay, here's what we're going to do. And then you start directing people to do it. Yeah. Yeah. I love this. But at the same time, they can do whatever they want.

So you let your pastry, you're the executive pastry chef and you're constructing the idea of the Fabergé egg. You're the one that puts the custard through the hatch. Yeah, with the syringe. With the syringe. And then they all decorate. Do you give them drawings and say, let's do something? No. They just do it?

They can do whatever they want. Right, okay. Yeah, that was sort of, I wanted each of them to... Even with colors and stuff? Of course. Yeah, anything they wanted. That's cool for them as well, isn't it? Well, I wanted each of them to... Even with colors and stuff? Of course, yeah. Anything they wanted. That's cool for them as well, isn't it?

Well, I would hope so. I always, you know, it's sort of like raising children. You're not trying to raise kids, you're trying to raise adults. Right. Oh, nice. And I was never trying to raise cooks. I was trying to raise chefs. Nice. I wanted them to be able to leave working for me and know a lot and have confidence and have a viewpoint and have an artistic thing to say.

You did it. So the Faberge egg now, is that in the Peninsula that you do that? It is. They still do it. They still do it? They still do it. So if I had enough money, I could go to the Peninsula and have a Faberge egg and a sweet tea. What would you have with it? I don't drink alcohol, so I couldn't have a dessert wine.

I like espresso with dessert. Espresso with dessert. I agree. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So you can still get, and do they name it after you? No.

Stephanie, is it the Boswellian? No, no, no, no. Because anytime, and this is the same for Savoryside, anytime you create something in an establishment, it naturally, the IP sort of belongs to the establishment. You know, that's kind of the same, like the old late night show? Yeah. Like all the shit I did in that, it all belongs to that.

That's kind of how it works. Yeah, I guess. Now, what did I get for that? Oh, yeah, money, I guess. Well, yeah, a castle. Is it a castle? It's totally a castle. Well, just because you've been in my house

doesn't mean you get to call it a castle. No, it's because I've seen it that I get to call it a castle. It's COVID castle. It's the whole observation of it that leads me to call it a castle. It is COVID castle. It's the whole observation of it that leads me to call it a castle. Well, you're welcome to it again and here again anytime.

It's been lovely talking to you. Oh, this has been amazing. It's just such fun. It's flown by. And I'm so glad you could do it. Now, get out. All right. No, we are at the end.

Okay. But we're done. Can you do it in a full Malcolm Tucker for me, though? No, I can't do that. Why not? You can say whatever you want. No, I can't. I don't swear.

Haven't you noticed? No. No, I never swear. I may be saying the opposite of what's true for comedy effect. Get out. delves into the life of the notorious Tori Spelling as she takes us through the ups and downs of her sometimes glamorous, sometimes chaotic life in marriage. I just filed for divorce. Whoa. I said the words that I've said like in my head for like 16 years. Wild. Listen to Miss Spelling on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Angie Martinez, and on my podcast, I like to talk to everyone from Hall of Fame athletes to iconic musicians about getting real on some of the complications and challenges of real life. I had the best dad, and I had the best memories and the greatest experience. And that's all I want for my kids as long as they can have that. Listen to Angie Martinez IRL on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Want to know how to leverage culture to build a successful business? Then Butternomics is the podcast for you. I'm your host, Brandon Butler, founder and CEO of Butter ATL. Butternomics is the podcast for you.

I'm your host, Brandon Butler, founder and CEO of Butter ATL. And on Butternomics, we go deep with today's most influential entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders to peel back the layers on how they use culture as a driving force in their business. Butternomics will give you what you need to take your game to the next level. Listen to Butternomics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.