The sweet life according to Lukáš Skála (39): “Michelin” confectioner from Prague reaps success all over the world
“When I was in seventh grade in elementary school, my father started a confectionery business. When I saw him making desserts, I liked it, “Lukáš confided. He soon learned the basics of what desserts should have to satisfy even the most delicious tongues.
Family tradition – the basis of quality
“My father taught me very well in the introduction to classic confectionery. It gave me more than if I worked as an apprentice somewhere in the shops where I would mostly peeled fruit for breakfast, or equal pastries, ”Explains Lukáš. He considers his “engagement” in the Intercontinental Hotel to be the second school of his life, where he worked his way up to a deputy pastry chef and mastered confectionery in large and widely usable ingredients.
He also completed a week-long internship in Germany at the Aqua restaurant, which was awarded three prestigious Michelin stars. “If I were to compare, the biggest differences were in the quality of the raw materials and the precision at work,” Lukáš confided. “In Germany, people are thinking more about how raw materials work to use its potential to get the most taste out of it. “
After further work at the Holiday Inn Hotel, where he already worked as a confectioner, in the restaurant of the Vinohrady Parliament and Bruxx, he now leads own confectionery in Šporkovský Palace and a little further in Dlouhá Street under the association of the gastronomic alliance Together.
Among Luke’s products you would find classic Czech delicacies From canapes to pralines, sweets or imaginative cakesthat could be swallowed by the eyes. In addition, the great currency of his experience and experiments is a wide range of non-traditional desserts that do not occur in other confectioneries.
From a beer keg to the dream Prague Castle
He enjoys Lukáš at the confectionery unlimited breadth of creation. “With the right ingredients, I can make just about anything out of them,” he says. “I made it to order chocolate telegraph, large cakes in the form of an alarm clock or mixing desk. Probably the biggest cake I made for Staropramen from marzipan, “Lukáš hunts in his memory. “It was a cake in the shape of a two-story rectangle measuring 130 x 90 centimeters, and it measured 50 centimeters in height. It had the name of the brewery and the top of the barrel was made of marzipan. He was deposed from 80 liters of cream. “
According to Lukáš Skála, not only the appearance but also the composition of the tastes is important for sweet desserts.
Author: David Winter
However, if it were up to him which creation he would like to create one day, Lukáš has been thinking for a long time about Prague’s sights. “Prague has a very beautiful architecture, it is very decorative and thus difficult for the confectionery character. Nevertheless, I can imagine that one day I would devote myself Hradčanyalthough it would probably be very complicated in 3D. “
No sweet or morning
However, more than modeling the aesthetically interesting sweets of Lukáš, he enjoys the composition of tastes. “Modeling is a pleasant activity, but a product can always be as tasty as it looks, “Explains the famous confectioner, who has accumulated various awards since 2000. Just He became the confectioner of the year three times, finished second three times. At the Gastronomic Olympics, he placed as the 11th best confectioner in the world, and at the Master Chef Challenge in Norway, he finished again as 4th best confectioner in the world. “Apart from the appearance, how tasty, how to know how those flavors intersect, whether the dessert is better warm or colder. “
What makes Lukáš try to differentiate his work from other confectioneries is the complete openness to customers. As from the alley of St. Thanks to the glass wall, Hubert, where his confectionery is located, is also directly in the store people viewhow all sorts of treats arise. “Thanks to that, we don’t have to emphasize that we use classic raw materials and not comfort or semi-finished products. People see it with their own eyes, “explains Lukáš.
Confectionery stage: Lukáš does not hide anything before his visits. Through the glass wall you can see the production of individual delicacies nicely from the beginning to the final product. David Winter
After a long time, many people start to get a job at their jobs. But Lukáš does not suggest that he would ever betray the sweet. “I have something sweet every day. I need to know how the product worked. It never happened to me that I would ever overeat that sweet taste. I will take some of what I create in the confectionery and sit home after work, ”he smiles.
As Lukáš works with sweets and delicacies, creates their tastes and shapes, people can see for themselves in one of his confectioneries.
Author: Cukrář Skála