Voracious Voyager

Luca Arguelles is a Consultant with a Zest for Flavors and Cultures

Portuguese Pastry whiz Luca Arguelles has barnstormed the world, working in Michelin restaurants and casual cafes. He now serves as a consultant for projects both predictable and adventurous, casual and elaborate. It also allows him to balance life as a chef and husband/father, so he’d prefer not to be committed to a single kitchen. Pastry Arts spoke to Arguelles about his journey and career choices.

How did you first become interested in food?

A:  My mom [Josefa] was starting a business from home because her business was a mini-market selling cheese, ham, bread and those kinds of things. At that time, when you’re nine or 10-years old, you’re pretty much obligated to help.

People asked my mom to make cakes for them. She was raising four kids. So she asked me first to break the eggs, then whip the egg whites, then make a meringue and then make a whole cake. I thought, oh, with four or five ingredients, you make something you really enjoy. I was 10 when I said I want to be a pastry chef. I had a very clear vision that this was what I wanted to do, not having a clue that it would put me on the place I am today.

My father started on the bakery side. Then he bought the company. They built a factory. My brothers took care of it when my parents retired. They’re taking care of the business now. We’re still together but not working together.

Tell us how your culinary studies began.

A: In Portugal, you do three years before you decide if you go to university or not. Then you have professional schools, where you specialize in years 10, 11 and 12. I wanted to do pastry. I had in my mind that I would learn and get a degree and go back to my parents’ business. But then I had an internship. The chef said whenever you finish school, I have a job for you in a hotel. I went as a cook, because they didn’t have a place for pastry. The first three months I was a dishwasher. You chop onions, you clean. You respect the whole process.

After 2 ½ years there, I found a job in a peninsula called Tróia. It was my first real job as a pastry chef. I wanted to do two years in each place to get more maturity, more knowledge. So I did two years in that one. Then I went to a brand new resort/hotel in Algarve. You get to know people, hear their stories. And I thought working in hotels was going to give me the opportunity to travel the world to get to know cultures, people, languages. I was not going to do that in Portugal because it’s a small country. I wanted more. Then I went to Madeira. It’s a small island in Portugal, very different from the mainland. Then I went to a Ritz Carlton property near Lisbon for 1 ½ years.

I wanted to go to Italy, because I always wanted to learn Italian. Maybe you regret it, but you have to follow your heart. There, they said, “but you don’t speak Italian.” I said “exactly.” So I went to a great resort and I started to do seasonal jobs in Europe: one in the summer; one in the winter; one with a Michelin star; one in a small boutique hotel. Then I worked on weekends in a patisserie to learn a little bit about everything that surrounds our business. I knew I belonged somewhere in a pastry kitchen.

I was 10 when I said I want to be a pastry chef. I had a very clear vision that this was what I wanted.

Next, I went to Austria. I wanted to save some money. And the roads are closed in the winter, so you cannot go anywhere.

Then I wanted to do a course in France at Ecole Nationale de la Patisserie. We did all the modules of pastry: one week of chocolate; one week of sugar; one week of bread, all in two months. If you are a pastry chef, you have to go to France. I had never had a course to understand why I was doing the things I did. I could not have someone on my team asking me a question and I didn’t know. I could not just say “because that’s how I was taught to do it.”

From there I went to Capri and then to Four Seasons in the Maldives. I was 28. It was the perfect time to go. I did 36 hours of flights, with connections: Portugal, Rome, Qatar, Male, then a hydroplane. You have this beautiful water, beautiful weather. When I arrived, there were 30 managers on the deck calling me by my name. When I arrived, they told me the chef had left, so I had one month as resident pastry chef. “If you feel you’re not comfortable,” they told me, “we will start looking for a pastry chef. We want to give you a chance to lead the team. (So there was no pressure). I needed to work with Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims in a team of ten. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. One day off a month, 14 hours a day, because I told myself this is going to work. This has to work. They’re not going to hire anybody else. It was very intense. Fortunately, everything went really well.

It’s one of the most beautiful parts of hospitality to share the culture. Almost nothing in the world gives you the chance hospitality gives.

What brought you back to Portugal?

I had a girlfriend. We wanted to have a family. We went to London and Norway first. Then we went to the South to open a new hotel. Then I gave six years to my family business. My parents were retiring. After six years, we had different visions for the company, so I went back to hotels to do consulting. You see what works for you and your clients. Then Covid came and I lost all the jobs. So I got a call from Discovery Land Bakery in the Bahamas. We were all set and five days later, Hurricane Dorian came and everything there was destroyed. So I went to work for a Private Club. They were opening in Portugal. The idea was to start and see how I liked the company and then do the opening here. I helped standardize things and teach the team.

I told them as things normalized, I wanted to go back to consulting because it gave me a chance to travel and have a good balance between work and personal life; showing, teaching and learning – cultures, ingredients, food. For me it’s paid vacations. It’s something for me to share what I know. Brands ask me to be their ambassador or do demos for the chefs. If I felt it would be good for me and I would be good for that place, I’d present myself as a consultant. I’m in a small village in Portugal and I’m working with people in Saudi Arabia. If I don’t reach out to them, they would never know who I am. You have to keep on top of trends and people, and you have to sell yourself. It’s one of the most beautiful parts of hospitality to share the culture. Almost nothing in the world gives you the chance hospitality gives.

With all the amazing travel you’ve done, what would you consider the culinary highlights?

A: Everything I learned in France, first of all. Thanks to France, you have interest in pastry; you have all these platforms, these books, these recipes. You have Pastry Arts.

Then the ingredients: jackfruit in Asia, all the sugars they use in Asia they produce themselves on the fire; the dried cocoa beans in Papua New Guinea. They dry them in the sun but not on the floor. They smoke them with the banana leaves. You don’t have fire, only smoke, so you add this smoky flavor into the chocolate.

The first place I tried rose water was in the Maldives. Their food is spicy. I was having Coke and they were having milk with rose water. I saw this pinky thing. What is that? It was rose water condensed extract paste diluted in water. In my head it didn’t make sense. Very intense. Rose water goes amazing with panna cotta.

I really liked American culture in the Bahamas. In Europe usually it’s sugary biscuits. In the Bahamas, I discovered the Parker House rolls, Hawaiian rolls, things people don’t know here. You also have the bar-b-ques. It was very good because I didn’t have an idea of American food.

Then in Saudi Arabia they make food in the middle of the desert. You look around, there’s only sand. But there’s heat, so they cook there. They have what they call coffee, but it’s pretty much a tea. People say don’t go there; they’re going to kill you. It’s the opposite; they’re super friendly. They really want you to visit their homes. Overall, what I’ve discovered is that we’re all the same. You want a better life for yourself, for your family, some more money, a chance to just enjoy life. Everybody has great foods. It doesn’t matter if you’re Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, black, white, yellow. I can say it’s like that because I experienced it.

I want to go everywhere the world wants me to go.

How do you balance work life and professional life?

When I was in hospitality, it could be very tough. You work long hours. You barely have days off. You miss dinners and stories. I’m always working. If I do this job I’m doing now, it’s easier to balance that, even though I’m away for a week. When I come home, I’m with them the whole day. If I have a fulltime job, maybe I don’t see my baby during the whole week. She’s six. If I leave early, she’s sleeping. If I come home late, she’s sleeping. Then you never have the weekend off normally. As a consultant, I can say I have this week booked for my family. For hospitality, it’s a luxury not everybody can afford. Now that I have it, I don’t want to lose it.

What do you think of savory preparations in Pastry?

A: I’m totally for it. If you want a menu that is stable, it needs to be coherent and most of the places are not. If you have meat and then you finish with lemon pie, it’s confusing to the palate. But with so many tasting menus in the restaurants, people are more comfortable combining these things.

What are some odd requests you receive?

A: Some places ask for a plain cheesecake with berries; others ask you to go crazy. I just created a kimchi ice cream for a place with a Michelin star in the north of Portugal. It’s an encouragement for me to think out of the box: fennel, potato, miso, wasabi, soy sauce, tomato, so many things. You already use pork fat, carrot, zucchini. You use maple to glaze the beef. Go wild, but make sense. Don’t put something on the plate just because.

What is the secret to a great Basque cheesecake?

A: Actually, I’m a huge fan of American cheesecake, even fried cheesecake, with a little bit of yogurt. But the Basque for me is special. The ratios are similar, but it needs a super high temperature. That burned crust on the top gives you this complexity. In Europe it can go up to 250 Celsius. And it should have some creaminess in the center.

You had a chance to be a judge on the show Best Bakery. How was that?

A: I had a lot of fun. This gave me the opportunity to be in front of the whole country. I was being judged because I was judging others. It was not for the fame; it was the opportunity. We visited 50 pastry shops around the country. The idea was to put people out of their comfort zones, creating something with their culture through different flavors and presentations.

Do you do your own social media or do you have help?

A: It’s only me. My Instagram is good. I have almost 30,000 followers. It’s not super important for me. I don’t want to have to post always, because I want to have a life. I am considering hiring someone now because I’m having a lot of content. I know if you want to escalate, your content is very important. I don’t like it, because you should be judged by the quality of your work, but I understand it works like that.

What do you see in the future?

A: In terms of places, I want to go everywhere the world wants me to go. I might go to India next year or Azerbaijan. I have another client in Saudi Arabia. I would love to have an opportunity in the USA. With all these movies, you have this vision of Hollywood and I want to experience it. I want to go to Africa: Mozambique and Kenya. As long as I’m growing, I want to take advantage of that.

As for career, I want to launch a book with all my knowledge from experience to intricate, tricky desserts. It’s a super high-quality book; not something you pay five Euros for. I love books from Francisco Migoya. I love his story, his products, his books. Then flavor combinations; bases from creams, custards, doughs, sables, glazes, ice creams, sorbet. Then Portuguese desserts like pastel de Nada, custard tarts. Most people know them, but not how they’re done.

I learned basics like American cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies, tiramisu from the Nona in Italy, all the basics from the Maldives from orange blossom to rose water. It’s my story through the years, including the crazy stuff I created to Michelin levels, like kimchi ice cream. I want to reach as many people as possible, so people want that book on their bookshelves. It has to be a book that tells my journey. How did rose water enter my journey? How did almonds arrive in Portugal? The Arabs. Why are our desserts full of sugar syrup? Because of the Arabs. How did the sugar come from Brazil to Portugal? We had sugar back then, but it was from beetroot. I want it to be something that can last.

Photos Courtesy Luca Arguelles

(This article appeared in the Winter 30 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)