Cook Like a Chef with Natasha Pickowicz

Q: How did you decide to pursue culinary arts? Specifically, how did you become a pastry chef?

I got into culinary arts in an unexpected, roundabout way. While applying for grad school, I took on a part-time job as the baker for a small luncheonette in Montreal to help make ends meet. Even though I wasn’t accepted into any grad school programs—which was devastating at the time—I fell in love with pastry. I kept seeking jobs in restaurant kitchens where I thought I could learn from the chefs in charge. My palate, sensibility and knowledge are very much informed by the mentors and peers I have worked around in the last decade. I observed and absorbed a lot in the fast-paced, high-pressure, fine-dining environment.

Q: What was the inspiration behind your Asparagus Tart recipe that’s featured here?

I'm best known for sweet treats but I often find myself craving savory pastries like flaky biscuits, cheese-studded scones and tomato focaccia. A sheet of pie dough and a sneaky layer of tangy cheese is all that is needed to elevate even the most everyday ingredients, like asparagus. Pastry is all about transforming a few simple ingredients to something breathtaking. With thin, French-style galettes like this one, I like to play with unusual––yet easy to execute––visual patterns and asparagus spears are perfect for creating into a loose checkerboard pattern.

Q: Your pastries are known to include unconventional ingredients and combinations that create unique and delicious flavors. What inspired this approach?

I’m inspired by savory ingredients because desserts deserve the dimension and depth that we expect in all of our other food. As a pastry chef, I love playing around with a blank pastry “canvas” to introduce or experiment with unusual flavors. Some examples are infusing custards with teas, purees, and spices for ice cream; topping a focaccia with preserved or candied fruits; soaking cake layers with rich coconut milks or boozy syrups. It’s all about building layers of flavor to create a harmonious, balanced experience.

Most people have had carrot cake or zucchini bread, but parsnips, rutabaga and sunchokes also deliver a similar earthy, starchy sweetness to quick breads without being overly sweet. We also love peanut butter, but what about Japanese black sesame paste or Chinese white sesame sauce? They are similar products that play into our preexisting love of ubiquitous ingredients, but add something a little different that challenges our palate or expectations.

Q: March is Women’s History Month and a great time to celebrate and honor the contributions and achievements of women across the world. What women inside and outside the kitchen have inspired you?

The cookbook authors who have inspired me over the years have a warmth, wit and sense of inclusiveness I am always hoping to achieve. I consider M.F.K. Fisher, Edna Lewis, Elizabeth David, Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Roden and Ruth Reichl the greats of cookery prose. There are many chefs, historians and writers that I look up to and admire––Claudia Fleming, Liz Prueitt, Toni Tipton-Martin, Rachel Roddy, to name just a few. Most of the art, books, music and film I consume is created by women; I’m constantly seeking those voices out. My mother, the artist Li Huai, is a significant inspiration as well. She illustrated my cookbook, and collaborating with her was one of the great joys of making the book come to life. She is strong, independent and funny and smart and has overcome a tremendous amount of adversity.

Q: As a pastry chef, what are some of your home kitchen essentials?

A digital scale is a must––it’s more accurate and efficient than cup measures. It’s faster and easier, too. My favorite pastry tool is a small offset spatula; it’s perfect for icing small cakes, creating dramatic swoops in mousses and buttercreams and for lifting small, delicate items. My general rule of thumb is to use commercial-quality tools and appliances whenever possible, like stainless steel pans from All Clad, restaurant-sized half and quarter sheet trays, stackable mixing bowls and really good digital thermometers.

Q: What are some of your favorite ingredients to include in your pastries during the spring?

I am driven by the seasons and look to incorporate fresh ingredients like fruits, vegetables and herbs whenever possible. English peas are sweet and starchy, and surprisingly delicious in a chiffon cake or white chocolate mousse. I also love the texture and drama that edible flowers add; tulips (organically grown, of course) are edible, and have a fabulous pepperiness. I love savory pastries, and it’s always exciting to get my hands on young spring onions, with their leafy greens still attached, or sustainably foraged ramps, which are delicious woven into brioche, pureed into an olive oil, or chopped into bread dough. And like every pastry chef in the Northeast, I’m counting down the days until shelling peas, rhubarb and strawberries are freshly available.

Q: Are there any ingredients you see trending right now? Are there any ingredients that you believe will become popular to incorporate in pastries and dishes in 2024?

So-called “exotic” fruits grown abroad or in California, like passion fruit and yuzu, are exploding in popularity right now. They’ve always been a staple at rarified fine-dining menus, but I’m seeing it all over social media in home bakes as well. The fruit––frozen, fresh, pureed or otherwise––is easier than ever to source, and I think home bakers are curious to try new and delicious things that look as beautiful as they taste. We’ll likely see Chinese ingredients like dried Jujubes, goji berries, black sesame, red-skinned peanuts, and adzuki beans pop up in crossover-style desserts, like peanut butter cookies, granola and pies.

Q: Can you share some of your baking “hacks” or special techniques with us?

I always write a prep list, read a recipe from start to finish and copy it in one of my personal notebooks for adding my notes and adjustments. I have all of my ingredients and tools ready to go. I call that “setting yourself up for success.” If you have everything in order, you can enjoy the process, be present and have fun.

Q: You’re known for lending your platform and talents to many social causes. Why is it important to you to do so?

Using my experience in event production and pastry arts for causes that are important to me gives my work richness and meaning. Within pastry, there is great opportunity for sharing and building community. It’s a very inclusive, warm, open place to be in the restaurant world, which can be intimidating and sexist. It can be hard to balance my commitment to social justice with the work that helps me pay my bills, but I’m learning all the time how to make it sustainable for my life. And the best part of it all is hearing from readers or guests that I inspired them to take action. I consider it an honor.

Q: Do you have any advice for women and girls looking to pursue culinary arts or owning a business?

There are many ways to get involved in the culinary arts—and it’s not just working in restaurants! That was something that felt revelatory to me after years working in fast-paced kitchens working late nights and feeling burnt out, barely able to pay rent. I think there is an unfortunate romanticizing of intense labor, like you’re “earning your stripes” by working 70 or 80 hours a week. Now, I strive for better balance. For women and girls out there, you can still be involved with great ingredients and collaborate with brilliant people in other aspects of the industry, like recipe development, menu consultation