Learnings from Pastry Connection: “Being taught by the world, the key in learning,” with Carles Mampel and Antonio Bachour

For this last conference made by the chefs Carles Mampel and Antonio Bachour y interviewed Frank Aragón, executive chef of the Hotel Mandarín Santiago de Chile, so that he could share with us his impressions of such conference.

Chef Frank is a great professional and ally of República del Cacao, who considers that one must be trained for life, as it is the only way to innovate and evolve. For this reason, he considered Carles Mampel’s and Antonio Bachour’s stories as trainers very encouraging, showing their professional side as well as their human side, which reflect their passion to share their knowledge.

Chef Carles remarks that it is essential to “open up, share, and create bond” in the training world. To him it is also very important to teach students about the importance of support within the group, friendship, and humility in order to help one another. Due to this reason, he states in multiple occasions that the great experiences and achievements accomplished during Antonio Bachour’s training have been the outcome of fellowship and passion for what they do. Frank adds in response to this great message, “the more we learn and know how to share what we know, the more competitive we will be.” This point of view is very valuable, as it encourages us to be humbler, learn from the best professionals to evolve, and become educators to promote the development of the art of baking and chocolate making.

On the other hand, Chef Bachour states that it is fundamental to convey passion towards students when teaching a class, and always use the best products to make high quality products, and in that way let students realize what they are capable of creating. He also describes, “In class there is not jealousy or ego, the goal is to make people content and create good experiences.” Chef Frank agrees with this though as it reminds him of his own experience as an instructor at the Mariano Moreno School in Colombia, where he held the position of Principal of the Baking and Patisserie Program. Frank remembers that he enjoyed teaching and did so with passion, as his objective was to make students fall in love with their occupation so that they can become great craftsmen.

Without a doubt Chefs Carles Mampel and Antonio Bachour have impacted significantly the world of baking and chocolate making. Their experiences in Latin America, Europe, and Asia are numerous, and while they passionately spoke about them during the conference, it was inevitable to want to be part of their great adventures.

To close, I want to quote a great piece of advice from Chef Frank to everyone who loves their occupation as a baker or a chocolatier: “Travel, learn, and discover, for all of this is an investment that will allow you to become the best version of yourself.”

Ma. Belén Vallejo, Marketing Manager B2B in República del Cacao