“We like less sweet but very colorful and fanciful cakes! “
LHCH met a personality, humble and low key, but very appreciated in the Chinese community of the capital of Europe, Ninon Tang, pastry chef with a big heart. From the province of Hunan, Miss Tang has lived in Belgium since 2005.
LHCH: How did you find out about the world of pastry? A very European universe.
NINON TANG: When I was little in Hunan, there were no pastries like here. There was sandwich bread or soft sandwiches. Apart from the Muslim minorities, there are no real traditions of bread made from wheat in our country. We have the “mantou”, but it’s steamed yeast dough. In fact, there was no atmosphere or places to eat the cakes. So it was when I arrived in Belgium 15 years ago that I learned to appreciate them. My first Belgian friends would invite me to her house and we would devour pastries from here. At the time I thought everyone ate it all the time!
LHCH: You have decided to study this art of baking here in Brussels. How did it happen ?
NINON TANG: I took all the courses at CERIA, a vocational and technical oriented school . It was a personal choice. But it was hard enough, especially for the knowledge of specific pastry vocabulary. I had only spoken French for 2 years! The other students also had the basics of figuring out how to bake cookies etc. Their parents made them at home. For me, it was a bit of a different planet.
LHCH: Where did you do internships?
NINON TANG: I was very fortunate to do an internship at Wittamer, a very chic pastry tearoom , in the antique and chocolate district, the Sablon, in the center of Brussels. Less glamorous, I also gained experience in the bakery of a french « Carrefour » supermarket.
LHCH: What about work?
NINON TANG: It’s not always easy to find a well paid and official job in this field. And also, we are often limited to robot tasks. We work in the assembly line with frozen products … Difficult to learn something and evolve in this environment, in general.
LHCH: There must be some luxury or more refined pastries?
NINON TANG: Yes, of course, De Baere, in Woluwe Saint-Lambert and Wittamer.
LHCH: What were your favorite types of baking while in school?
NINON TANG: My tastes often changed. For example, I didn’t like working with chocolate. Today, I want to learn how to bake chocolate cakes that I like.
LHCH: As a Chinese, your tastes are different?
NINON TANG: The Chinese in general don’t like things that are too sweet. On the other hand, they love the exterior appearances of the cake, the colors, the patterns and the fancy shapes! As I always want to learn and master new techniques, I went to China to take “sugar paste” lessons.
LHCH: Are the small “sculptures” of European cakes in Chinese style made of sugar paste?
NINON TANG: Yes, you need a consistent texture for the complicated shapes that European Chinese like! Here, the courses of this technique were too expensive. In Guilin, Guangxi province, I was able to take some very interesting lessons because the Chinese, very skillful and cheerful, now have their colorful “fangtang” (sugar paste) cake contests. There is a genre star called Tang Wang Zhouyi!
LHCH: How did you get started as a professional pastry chef?
NINON TANG: During my rare free time. I started baking cakes for friends, then friends of friends from the Chinese community in Brussels.
LHCH: But do you also create cakes according to European tastes?
NINON TANG: Yes, of course, and anyway my cakes are all made from organic ingredients, according to special recipes for diabetics too. For tea lovers, I make little cakes that are very slightly sweet and very lightly scented so as not to alter the subtle taste of the tea. For example, I am making miso cakes right now.
LHCH: A little anecdote with one of your first “fans” in Brussels ?
NINON TANG: Ah among my stories of “love cakes” as I say, there is this man I helped to give a birthday cake to his beloved wife. He wanted lots of fresh cream and fruit because his wife liked them. But above all, I understood that he wanted to thank her for her loyalty and especially her patience with her funny character! I drew a big man who sent a huge heart on which was written in Chinese “Laopo, xin kule”, “My wife thank you for your courage” (laugh)
LHCH: You are so good hearted with the Chinese community of Brussels. We have heard there are some Chinese in Europe who began to help like you and then finally became very famous experts so they created their own brand ! Good luck Ninon Tang !
