My name is Pol Anter Campdepadrós and I am a pastry chef in China. I was born in the beautiful town of Terrassa, Spain, 32 years ago, and I’ve been a pastry chef for the past 11 years. I started at a restaurant, and from there I went on to work at a hotel and then at a school. I have done a little bit of everything, but always related to pastry making. Since I was little, our kitchen has been the center of our home, and we have always prepared home-made meals. My sister Carla is also a professional chef, and both she and I grew up helping our parents cook, make desserts, cakes… So, since I was little, I was certain I wanted to end up working in the kitchen.
我叫 Pol Anter Campdepadrós，是一名在中國(guó)的糕點(diǎn)師。32 年前，我出生于西班牙美麗的城市塔拉薩。過(guò)去的 11 年里，我一直從事糕點(diǎn)制作。起初，我在餐館工作，然后是酒店，接著是學(xué)校。我什么都工作都嘗試過(guò)，但總不離糕點(diǎn)制作。小時(shí)候，廚房就是我們家的中心，我們總是親自下廚。我的姐姐 Carla 也是一名專(zhuān)業(yè)廚師，我們小時(shí)候都會(huì)幫父母做飯、做甜點(diǎn)、做蛋糕……因此，小時(shí)候的我就確定，未來(lái)想在廚房工作。
When I finished high school, I decided to study at a cooking school in Manresa called Joviat and specialized in pastry cooking during my last year. That is where I met Aleix, a classmate who ended up marking the direction of my destiny.
高中畢業(yè)時(shí)，我決定在曼雷薩的一所名為 Joviat 的烹飪學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)，在最后一年專(zhuān)攻糕點(diǎn)制作。在那里我遇到了 Aleix，他是我的同學(xué)，為我指明了命運(yùn)的航向。
After I finished my studies I worked for a year at a Michelin star restaurant in Spain. The owner of the restaurant had a friend in France who owned a hotel with his husband and recommended me to go work with them. So my first international experience was in France for a year.
從烹飪學(xué)校畢業(yè)后，我在西班牙的一家米其林餐廳工作了一年。餐廳老板在法國(guó)有一個(gè)朋友，和丈夫開(kāi)了一家酒店，推薦我去他們酒店工作。因此，我到法國(guó)工作了一年，這是我第一次出國(guó)。
After that, I returned to Spain, and the next stop was China in 2013. After graduation, my classmate went directly to work in Beijing at “Migas”, a Mediterranean restaurant. One day he called me because they were hiring a pastry chef. I did not think twice! I had nothing to lose, so I came straight away. What started as a year in Beijing, ended up being 5!
之后，我回到了西班牙。2013 年，我來(lái)到了中國(guó)，這是我出國(guó)的第二站。我同學(xué)畢業(yè)后直接去了北京的米家思 (Migas) 餐廳工作，那是一家地中海餐廳。一天，他打電話告訴我，他們餐廳正在招聘一名糕點(diǎn)師。我沒(méi)有多想就去應(yīng)聘了。我沒(méi)有什么可失去的，所以我義無(wú)反顧地來(lái)到了北京。一晃我已經(jīng)在北京呆了五年！
By then, I balanced work at the restaurant with the pastry classes at a school in Beijing. The owner of the school and I became good friends and I realized I really enjoyed teaching. So, my boss and I made a deal and I worked with her for 4 years.
那時(shí)，我一邊在餐廳工作，一邊在北京一所學(xué)校教授糕點(diǎn)制作。校長(zhǎng)和我成了好朋友，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我真的很喜歡教學(xué)。所以，我和老板達(dá)成協(xié)議，在她的學(xué)校工作 4 年。
During an ordinary holiday I went home to Terrassa and my sister gave me a great surprise… She gave me a simple box which had a message in code: a pacifier! You can imagine how excited I was. That encouraged me to return to Spain to be closer to my family, meet my niece and stay in Barcelona for a while. What I missed the most was Chinese food!
一次假期，我回到了塔拉薩的家，姐姐給了我一個(gè)巨大的驚喜……她給了我一個(gè)普通的盒子，里面放著一個(gè)奶嘴，這是一個(gè)暗號(hào)！你知道嗎？我當(dāng)時(shí)有多么興奮。所以我想回到西班牙，與家人更親近，見(jiàn)一見(jiàn)我的外甥，在巴塞羅那住上一段時(shí)間。當(dāng)時(shí)我最懷念的是中國(guó)的美食！
I lived in Barcelona for two years and I tried to work as a teacher, but I needed to go on studying, so I started a course in kitchen management, while I stayed in touch with my boss from China. Our friendship was so strong that she even traveled to Spain with my students. I invited them to my home, and we went out to dinner… During their visit, she offered me an opportunity to return to China and work at her school. When I finished my higher studies, I decided to go back to China for the adventure, because in China, there are always so many things going on! So in February 2021, I went back to Beijing for three months, and in May, my boss entrusted me with opening her school in Xiamen.
我在巴塞羅那住了兩年，我想當(dāng)老師，但我仍需要繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)，因此我開(kāi)始了廚房管理課程，同時(shí)，我與中國(guó)老板也保持聯(lián)系。我們的友誼非常深厚，她甚至帶著我的學(xué)生去西班牙。我邀請(qǐng)他們來(lái)我家做客，一起出去吃飯……他們拜訪我的時(shí)候，老板給了我一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)，讓我回到中國(guó)，在她的學(xué)校工作。我學(xué)成之后，決定回到中國(guó)繼續(xù)我的冒險(xiǎn)，因?yàn)樵谥袊?guó)每天都有奇妙的事情發(fā)生！我決定留在中國(guó)工作。2021 年 2 月，我回到北京，呆了三個(gè)月。5 月，老板委托我在廈門(mén)開(kāi)設(shè)學(xué)校。
Ah, Xiamen. I had no clue how hard I would fall for this city. I wanted to stay. When I swim in the sea, I feel like life is amazing, floating there. When I dive in the ocean, everything else disappears and I am the happiest person in the world. In Xiamen, the mountain is 5 minutes away, and the sea, 20 minutes away. There are lakes… I am not from Barcelona city but from Terrassa, which is a big city but feels like a small town, so Xiamen was the ideal place for me. It’s a pity that my romance with Xiamen was so brief. Due to the pandemic, the pastry school in Xiamen didn’t work well, so I had to look for other opinions. I only lived in that city for three months, but that made me realize how much I loved life in the South of China.
啊，廈門(mén)。我不知道我有多喜歡這座城市。我想留下來(lái)。我在海里游泳的時(shí)候，會(huì)覺(jué)得生活太美好了，只需要漂浮在海上。我在海里潛水的時(shí)候，所有煩惱都消失了，感覺(jué)我是世界上最幸福的人。在廈門(mén)，5 分鐘就能看到山，20?分鐘就能看到海。這里還有湖泊……我不是來(lái)自巴塞羅那，而是來(lái)自塔拉薩，那是一個(gè)大城市，但跟廈門(mén)比起來(lái)，就像一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)，所以廈門(mén)是我的理想之地。遺憾的是，我與廈門(mén)的“戀情”是如此短暫。由于疫情影響，廈門(mén)的糕點(diǎn)學(xué)校運(yùn)作不暢，所以我不得不另謀生路。雖然我只在廈門(mén)生活了三個(gè)月，卻讓我意識(shí)到我真的非常熱愛(ài)中國(guó)南方的生活。
A good Basque friend helped me share my CV with his contacts and I could choose among options like Shanghai, Xi’an, or Guangzhou. I opted for working at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Guangzhou, also in the South of China, in love as I was with the coasts of the South and the tropical temperatures. I was very lucky and the truth is I am really happy with the city, the team, the hotel, and the position.
一位好朋友（他是巴斯克人）幫我把簡(jiǎn)歷發(fā)給與他的聯(lián)系人，我可以在上海、西安或廣州選擇就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)。我選擇了在廣州的麗思卡爾頓酒店工作，廣州也是中國(guó)南部城市，我愛(ài)上了南方的海岸和熱帶的溫度。我非常幸運(yùn)，我對(duì)這座城市、我們的團(tuán)隊(duì)、我們的酒店和我的工作都非常滿意。
As a curious piece of information, in China the most popular sweets are not as sweet as in European or French style desserts. Usually, at the hotel, I am free to do whatever I want, although lighter desserts are preferred here like chocolate creams or mousse. Sometimes I am asked to prepare typical local desserts from Canton. In that case, I ask for help from the local team and they guide me. They give me their honest opinion about the taste, etc. Also, for the hotel buffet, we prepare very special Chinese desserts, such as a sweet cold soup with dried dates, goji berries and snow mushrooms called “紅棗雪耳糖水”?(hóngzǎoxuě’ěrtángshuǐ, literally sweetened water with snow fungus and jujube). It may not sound too appealing for the Western palate, but the truth is that it is very successful here and it is very nutritious.
在中國(guó)，最受歡迎的甜品并不像歐洲或法國(guó)風(fēng)格的甜品那樣甜，這真是太奇怪了。在酒店，我可以自由地做我想做的甜點(diǎn)，但是這里的人們更喜歡輕甜點(diǎn)，比如巧克力奶油或慕斯。有時(shí)候，有人希望我做廣東特色甜點(diǎn)。這時(shí)我會(huì)向當(dāng)?shù)氐膱F(tuán)隊(duì)尋求幫助，他們會(huì)耐心指導(dǎo)我，給我口味方面的意見(jiàn)。此外，我們?yōu)榫频甑淖灾蜏?zhǔn)備了非常特別的中國(guó)甜點(diǎn)，例如用干棗、枸杞和雪耳制作的清涼甜湯，叫做“紅棗雪耳糖水”（字面意思是用雪耳和紅棗制作的糖水）。對(duì)于西方人來(lái)說(shuō)，這名字聽(tīng)起來(lái)可能不太誘人，但是在這里卻十分受歡迎，而且非常有營(yíng)養(yǎng)。
Although I miss my family so much, I know that China has given me great opportunities and coming here was a wise choice. If I went back in time and were asked again if I would come to China, I would say “absolutely yes!” China is very cool. Of course, it has its things, like everywhere else. I would choose this experience again. Culturally we are very different and that is shocking at first. But that is the beauty of adapting to differences, and seeing that in the end, we are not so different.
雖然我非常想念家人，但我知道中國(guó)給了我很多機(jī)遇，來(lái)這里是一個(gè)明智的選擇。如果時(shí)光倒流，再問(wèn)我是否會(huì)來(lái)中國(guó)，我會(huì)說(shuō)：“一定會(huì)！”中國(guó)太棒了。當(dāng)然，它也有和其他國(guó)家共通的東西。我會(huì)再次選擇來(lái)到中國(guó)。我們的文化天差地別，一開(kāi)始這令我摸不著頭腦。但是適應(yīng)這種差異，也能獲得美的感受。最終，我們明白我們之間差異也不是那么大。
From here I want to encourage people who study cooking to take the step and come to China if they have the chance. Home is always a place to go back to and it’s not going anywhere. So, anywhere in the world can become your home. It’s a good idea to visit different places, as you never know which one you will like the most.
我想鼓勵(lì)學(xué)習(xí)烹飪的人邁出這一步。如果他們有機(jī)會(huì)，就來(lái)中國(guó)。家永遠(yuǎn)是一個(gè)可以依賴(lài)的港灣，它一直在那兒。因此，世界上任何地方都可以成為你的家。你應(yīng)該拜訪世界各地，因?yàn)槟阌肋h(yuǎn)不知道你最喜歡哪個(gè)地方。
And if you need one more reason, Chinese food is amazing!
如果你需要一個(gè)來(lái)中國(guó)理由，我想說(shuō)，中國(guó)的美食太棒啦！
