2024 | Trade - Chef
“Becoming a scholar is a significant leap towards making an impact and shaping a better future for our planet.”
What is dessert and what’s the future of it? These are the questions I’ve always asked myself.
Hi, my name is Linh Cat, a 2024 Global Footprints Trade Scholar and pastry chef. Let me take you along on my six-month journey across the world.
First stop, Berlin, Germany.
My journey began at CODA, a non-conformist restaurant by Chef René Frank. The cuisine seamlessly blends the worlds of savoury and sweet, creating unexpected flavour combinations that challenge convention and allow the imagination to run free.
At CODA, every dish is sourced from organic German farms and businesses and is 100 per cent made in-house. From bean to bar, grinding cacao nibs for 38 hours creates a smooth chocolate for our pralines.
My time here enhanced my skills and taught me the importance of immense attention to detail, and how everything has its own place and purpose.
Most importantly, it showed me how limited my perception of pastry once was. CODA expanded that perspective, revealing endless possibilities and teaching me that true creativity often comes from challenging conventions and breaking the rules.
Danke, team CODA.
I also travelled, embracing new cultures, perspectives and connections with people from diverse backgrounds. These experiences, stories and sources of inspiration have shaped my identity and expanded my perspective on the world.
I continued my journey at CieL by Chef Hồng Lê, where French and Japanese techniques are layered with Vietnamese influences, celebrating the finest ingredients sourced from the terroir.
The result is a refined and thoughtful expression of cooking, where every dish was an incredible experience, showcasing authentic flavours with precision and restraint and allowing ingredients to speak for themselves.
Chef Hồng’s advice to enjoy the journey and trust the process deeply resonated with me. To not only reach goals but to appreciate the growth and learning of the journey.
Cảm ơn nhiều, team CieL.
My time in Vietnam allowed me to deepen my connection to my roots through its language, traditions, culture and people, reigniting a part of my identity that had been dormant.
This journey came to a close at Room4Dessert by Chef Will Goldfarb, where a farm-to-table philosophy drives a no-waste menu. His approach brings ingredients to life in multiple forms, creating focused flavours.
Noteworthy was the hospitality, which I’ve never experienced at this level. Attentive, warm and genuinely wholesome.
As part of zero waste, this is the fermentation lab where I learnt how to make misos, garums, lacto powders, kombucha and condiments from kitchen by-products.
I’m grateful to have learnt from the source at the restaurant’s farm, where I was introduced to traditional Balinese farming techniques focused on organic practices and mindful harvesting.
My palate also expanded to new flavours such as torch ginger, coffee beans and hibiscus. Working closely with the produce deepened my respect for each ingredient and the effort behind it.
Here, I learnt how to recycle paper and make candles from old kitchen cooking oil. I learnt an incredible amount.
Terima kasih. Bali taught me to do everything with intention, to be authentic and create for personal fulfilment, drawing on the land, culture and my own experiences to shape the narrative.
None of this would have been possible without the support of the BBM team. Thank you.
And finally, thank you to Chef René Frank from CODA in Germany, Chef Hồng Lê from CieL in Vietnam and Chef Will Goldfarb from Room4Dessert in Indonesia.
And finally, every single team member who shared their time, experience and knowledge to help me grow professionally and personally. Thank you.
Beyond the skills and knowledge that I have gained, it has given me new perspectives, a deeper appreciation for my craft and a clearer sense of the impact I want to make with others and on this earth through my work.
For that, I’m always grateful. Thank you.
Linh’s scholarship relates to these UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs):