When she was a girl, she was fascinated by classical dance and cooking. She at one point took ballet classes, but her deepest longing was not related to pointe shoes but to the cakes, cookies, and puddings that she used to make in the afternoons. Her destiny was more than tied to the world of gastronomy by desire and by family tradition. Everyone in her family always cooked.
Today Paula Maroni is the Pastry Chef at Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt Buenos Aires and is in charge of the pastry shop of the entire hotel. “I always wanted to work in a five-star hotel,” she says. She has been working there for ten years. The challenges and responsibility are enormous. Everything has to be flawless. “I’m very rigorous,” she admits. Discipline and creativity are the essential condiments to belong to elite gastronomy. She assures that she does not intend to be famous or participate in any massive cooking reality show. She would just like to be recognized by her peers as a good pastry chef and have her own pastry shop one day.
News: What motivated you to be a cook?
Paula Maroni: Since I was little I liked to cook. I stopped going out to play with friends to stay at home making a cake. My parents, my grandparents, my uncles, my whole family always cooked a lot. It was something that I loved, I played and set up my pastry counter and pretended to have a television program and put them on for my grandmothers so they could see me and be my platform.
News: Why did you choose pastry?
Maroni: When I finished high school, I wasn’t sure about studying Gastronomy, I was thinking about pursuing a university degree, and my parents were the ones who encouraged me. First I studied at the IAG (Argentine Institute of Gastronomy), then I did a degree in Gastronomic Administration at the UADE (Argentine Business University). Later, I worked for five years in the kitchen, but something told me that I had to encourage myself in pastry making and one day I was encouraged to take that step, and it is a decision that I do not regret. Although I really like to cook salty food, pastry disconnects me and makes me connect from another side.
News: How is the pastry that you like?
Maroni: I really like French pastry. I admire great French pastry chefs like Cédric Grolet, Pierre Hermé and Christophe Michalak. There is also another patisserie that is emerging from other pastry chefs, such as Antonio Bachour, who won the award for the best pastry chef in the world this year. I also like to give a French touch to another type of pastry. For example, take American classics, such as carrot cake, red velvet or some stuffed donut, and give it a twist to make it the style that I like.
News: Do you agree that cooking is an art form?
Maroni: I re-believe it. It is a way of expression. Every time I think about a change in the menu, or now at Christmas or Easter, when I see the end result of what we did, it’s undoubtedly art.
News: What is it like to work at Palacio Duhau?
Maroni: I wanted to work in a five-star hotel and one day they offered it to me. I have been here for ten years, I started in the kitchen and there I discovered the adrenaline that the kitchen service has and I found it super attractive. Then I went to pastry and after the pandemic I was in charge of the sector, always with the approval and style of Damián Betular, who was the executive chef of the hotel. For me it is very pleasant to work in the palace, although in high season we have thousands of events, full restaurants, socials on weekends and we work Saturdays and Sundays. In the bakery we are 17 people, we spend many hours together and the community that is created is like a family. That seems to me the most enriching, working with the human quality of the people with whom we work.
News: What is the imprint you want to give to the Duhau pastry shop?
Maroni: We are going towards something fresher and more relaxed. That implies having a greater variety of options and playing and innovating with flavors and textures. That the pastry shop is not only related to the guests and clients of the hotel, but also to the public. Good pastry can be for everyone. Having the exclusivity of the bonbons and chocolates that we have, which are clearly not for everyone, but also if someone wants to eat an excellent alfajor they can come and buy it here.
News: What are the qualities to become a top-level cook?
Maroni: Discipline and creativity. Creativity can also be developed and you have to lose your fear of being creative.
News: How much does technique matter?
Maroni: Very much. The technique is ninety percent of the work and is learned mainly by working. And it’s great to be able to surround yourself with different people with different techniques, different methods, disciplines, where you take a little of each one and you train with what makes you feel most comfortable.
News: If you had to treat someone with something sweet, what would you offer them?
Maroni: Something rather fresh, I like to use a lot of fruits, creams. If it’s a celebration I would make a carrot cake, something citric, I love coconut, lime, red fruits. Some chocolate always has to be. I like the combination of chocolate, toffee and salt. I’m not a big fan of dulce de leche, but from time to time, if we’re with the family on a Sunday, and we make a rogel, I love it.
News: Would you like to have your own bakery?
Maroni: Yes, it’s something I dream about. I have it as a future project.
News: What do you think of Masterchef-style cooking shows?
Maroni: I think that in the pandemic it helped us to disconnect a bit from reality and from the news that we watched all the time. Sometimes they ask me if I want to be famous and if I would like to participate in a television program, but I would like to be recognized more in the gastronomic environment for being a good pastry chef and not for appearing on a massive reality television show. Regardless of that, Damián (Betular) generated a boom in Masterchef and I consider him one of the best pastry chefs we have. But participating in a massive program does not always go hand in hand with being a good cook or pastry chef.
News: How is the kitchen in your house?
Maroni: I live in a small apartment in Palermo and the kitchen is small, but I have my divine knives, my KitchenAid and all my necessary things to cook.
News: What are the essential products, those that can never be missing in your home?
Maroni: I cannot miss a good olive oil, black peppercorns to grind and some rich spicy sauce. Those are my basics. As for sweets, I always have a bag with red berries in the freezer, chocolate in the cupboard, and dulce de leche.
News: What is your life like outside of gastronomy?
Maroni: I have my parents, a brother living in a Buenos Aires town, three nephews, my friends. I take advantage of every moment I have to enjoy with them. I also love my moments of solitude, I like to go out and try different specialty coffees. In addition, I like to read novels, see my friends, sunbathe, take advantage of the pool, travel, meet. A big hobby for me is cooking. I love it, it’s the cutest. Being able to entertain people by cooking for them seems incredible to me.
News: If you had to describe your relationship with cooking, what would you say? Love, passion, addiction?
Maroni: Addiction no, but love and passion yes. When I was a girl there were two things that fascinated me: classical dance and cooking. I watched Canal (á) and El Gourmet or Utilísima all the time. At one point I took ballet classes, I liked it, but I didn’t have the qualities to be a great dancer. In addition, the truth is that the kitchen weighed more. Cooking something sweet in the afternoon was my ritual and it happened many times that I stopped going to dance class to stay to make a cookie, a cake or a pudding. It was clear that my path was on the side of gastronomy.
