Fans of Bake Off: The Professionals will know the award-winning international pastry consultant, Cherish Finden, as the ruler-wielding judge with a palate that demands perfection. They will also have seen how compassionate she can be when the impossibly towering bakes demanded by Cherish and her fellow judge Benoit Blin, inevitably tumble and fall, dashing a prospective baker’s dreams of going through to the next round. This summer, she will be appearing live at Alex James’ annual hoopla of top chefs and great music, Big Feastival.
What will you be doing at Big Feastival?
Something exciting. We have two sessions, one is a demo, the other session will be a live chocolate tasting. When I talk about chocolate, I get all excited. I think that will be very interesting, because I will be teaching people how to taste – not eat – chocolate. Chefs tend to eat chocolate and taste chocolate very differently. I take a little bite and just let the chocolate linger on my palate and enjoy it. The second bite is even more intriguing; you take the chocolate on your tongue, right up to the top of your mouth, and you melt it very gently, because chocolate will melt beautifully in your palate. Then you inhale it, and when you eat it, you actually start to feel the taste profile.
How do you decide what to cook in a live session?
When you do a demo, you’ve only got 45 minutes, so it has to be easy to make. I usually like to show people how to make a panna cotta or a pavlova. With a pavlova instead of teaching people how to make an okay meringue, I teach them how to make a fantastic meringue. I would be telling people about the pH level; if you leave your egg white out for too long, the pH starts to grow higher, and you don't get the volume that you are looking for. So if you say, why is my meringue so flat? I say put a little bit of lemon juice in, not only to enhance the taste but to bring down the pH level. It’s all about the science behind baking.
You make the most skilled tasks look effortless. Does anything ever not turn out for you?
What you don't see is the background work. So before I actually present it to anyone, I actually make it 20, 30, 40 times to perfect it. Whenever I present something on the stage, I'm already very confident of what I'm going to do.
I do a lot of research: the when and the why, for me, is always very important, and not only that, I think it's entertaining as well. People get very uptight. You know, they are very scared but [I get] them involved – asking questions, having fun. The audience has to be engaged with whatever I'm doing, so I make people dance to relax themselves. I start off with, ‘come on, baby, let's do the twist’. I always tell people to put on your dancing shoes because you'll be dancing with me.
Brilliant. Do you plan to spend time enjoying the rest of the festival?
This will be my first time staying overnight. I can't wait: the music, the atmosphere that you get the buzz from, and then the smell and the food…
Thinking about Bake Off: The Professionals, as a viewer I’ve often wondered – does the artistry ever overtake the flavour? Which is most important?
The technique of making is very important but also the pairing is super important. Like, for example, if you pair a mango and a coconut and lemongrass and then you bring in a bit of pandan, the taste profiles all marry perfectly, but sometimes a chef puts in – for example – basil and strawberry. Basil can be very overpowering, but it also can be a perfect match to strawberry. So it's how you actually balance the taste that is very important. The components in a piece of petit gateaux or a dessert all speak for themselves when you put it on the plate. Balancing is the most important thing, and so is the sensation of eating: I need to have fireworks on my palate.
Does anyone ever dare cook for you, your friends or family?
Yes – I always say that I'm not here to critique. I'm just here to eat and enjoy.
What food do you make for yourself at home?
I believe in pure and clean food, so I tend to make a loaf of bread and pasta from scratch. I believe in eating very healthily and eating food with no preservatives. Also not wasting food is a big thing so whenever I have leftovers in my fridge, I just turn it into a stir fry.
Do you plate up for yourself with care and precision?
I still present my plate. I will pan fry my salmon to just pink in the middle and cut the cucumber to five centimetre by five centimetre and cook the rice to perfection. I think this is in me, I can't change myself. I don't find it stressful, because if you do it every day you find that this is the norm.
Stylish and immaculate, just like your fashion?
I don't like clothing that is too fussy. I [like to] look very sharp, very clean, and I like my military as well. When you talk about military you talk about discipline and when you talk about discipline, you talk about precision. That is very important to me.
See Cherish Finden on stage over the August Bank Holiday weekend at Big Feastival. For the full lineup and to book tickets, visit bigfeastival.com
