Many of us consider food to be something we don't need to think about too much. We see it as an essential activity that we need to do in our busy lives, just like breathing or sleeping. However, some people consider gastronomy to be much more than just fuel for the body, and elevating food to an art form is their life's mission. Meeting a person who, through food, has shown the whole world that when you pursue your goal, anything is possible is rare. Peter " Chef Pepe " Šiška himself told us how a manager in a corporation becomes a successful chef, whose cakes are shared by thousands of people on social networks.
We met Peter on one of the last sunny October days in a Bratislava café on Náměstí Slobody. He came to the interview accompanied by his smiling family with a small electric motorbike in his hand. Simply, a relaxed, authentic guy, just like his cakes. To start, we immediately ask the obligatory question, how he got into cooking.
"I was already aware of cooking when I was little. I started to explore how the goodies I love so much were made with my mother and grandmother. I always loved good quality cakes and by hanging around in the kitchen, I gradually started to try how to bake my own creation. Of course, the first attempts were unsuccessful, but that didn't discourage me, quite the opposite. I wanted to make what I liked so much myself and that's what motivated me to continue. I gradually started to cook and bake according to more demanding recipes. My grandmother taught me how to make traditional cakes, lokše, steamed buns or potato dumplings. Those classic traditional recipes."
I've always loved good quality, honest cakes, and by hanging around in the kitchen, I gradually began to try out how to bake my own creation.
My parents wanted me to study, to learn well. In short, the classic parental plans - to go to college, get a job in a good company, become a manager, travel. I was raised that way and no one motivated me to do what I enjoyed, not to look at how much I earned, but to do work that fulfilled me. At that time, not only in our country, but in general, there was pressure for a person to graduate, to be as qualified as possible, to have a successful job.
That dragged on with me for many years, but cooking always remained in the background. When I came home from school, I always settled in the kitchen. Over time, I became a coffee lover. And coffee goes well with cake, so I always baked something to go with it. While studying at university, I started bringing cakes to my classmates, and they immediately noticed the glow in my eyes when I told them how I baked a cake.
They always told me how passionate I was when talking about cakes.That's how life went on, I graduated from college, started working in a corporation, and cooking was still just a hobby. Until I met my wife. She saw my frustration - I changed many jobs in a few years and I was always looking for reasons why the job was not good.
It was challenging, we had a young daughter, I had no other job, and I was going into the unknown.
I timidly set up a small Facebook page where I started adding recipes. At the same time, I started looking for a job in gastronomy, I wanted to find a community of people who were involved in the field. However, I had no offer, no portfolio, no concept. I let myself be carried away by whatever came along. I started working in a hotel, for a while I worked in a restaurant, in a gastronomic production plant, I gained experience wherever I could. And I kept publishing on Facebook. Until one day an offer came from a company that was opening a huge operation and wanted to order my cakes. Just based on the references and quality of the content on Facebook.
And I never even dreamed that I would one day have my own show on TV Paprika!Unfortunately, you can't make a living from food blogging, so I started a business making cakes. That was the first impulse that Facebook could be the way for me. Along with that, new doors started to open, because I wasn't just a producer, but I also tried to be a promoter of good quality cooking and baking. After that, everything went very quickly. And I never even dreamed that I would one day have my own show on TV Paprika ( note : "Pepeho zdravá kuchyná")!”
That was the first impulse that Facebook could be the way for me.How did it feel to become a TV chef? "I don't see it that way at all. There was no radical change in my life, but cooking in a studio full of cameras was a very interesting experience for me. I partly enjoyed it, but I also felt a responsibility to keep the audience engaged."
Yes, it's not always fun and games. Sometimes it's very challenging, stressful, but still beautiful.
However, when it comes to cake production, I have firm principles: I don't use white flour or white sugar.I try to make the cakes healthy. In general, using the highest quality ingredients is another feature of mine. Eggs are never cage-fed, I only work with fresh butter, nuts... I want the resulting product to be not only tasty, but also nutritionally valuable.”
However, in cooking, people should not only see the final product, but there should be joy in the activity."However, it is important to have certain basics that you can only gain through experience. Then your speed in the kitchen will increase rapidly. And that is exactly what the various YouTube videos and TV shows mentioned above help with."
There is no need to be afraid of the variability of vegetables and legumes.
Unless you stand behind the kitchen counter and try and try, you won't improve.You don't necessarily have to come up with difficult gourmet dishes right away. When I was young, I was very inspired by the German TV chef Tim Mälzer , who had a show called "It doesn't taste good, it won't" ( note: in the German original "Schmeckt nicht, gibt's nicht"). He always tried to cook very interesting dishes from a small amount of ingredients. He showed me that even with a small amount of ingredients, you can cook good and tasty food. And that's exactly what it's all about."
