Meet Ash Otto: The Pastry Professional Behind Stunning Creations It takes a special touch to beautifully transform inspirations from the outside world into stunning culinary and visual delights on a plate. Pastry professional Ash Otto undoubtedly has that unique flair and talent to make it happen. Early Start in the Kitchen What began as work experience followed by an apprenticeship at the Pacific Hotel in Cairns at the tender age of 16, flourished into a successful and remarkable career. Today, Ash is Head Pastry Chef at the Pullman International in Cairns. Those early skills and techniques, learned from mentors, have been refined over more than 14 years in the culinary industry. “When I was an apprentice, my first boss, James Saunders, literally taught me all the fundamentals of the technical skills in pastry and of being in the kitchen. I was so young and he helped me build resilience because the kitchen is fast paced,” Ash says. “Melanie Day (who previously worked at the Pullman Hotel) has also been a number one for me. She introduced me to a lot of new flavours and to experiment with everything. James taught me the basis of pastry and Mel inspired me to expand further my knowledge.” Family Influence Before stepping into that commercial kitchen for the first time, Ash Otto’s passion began in the family kitchen – spending school holidays baking cakes and cooking dinners with her mum. However, it was her stepdad’s Italian mother, who left a lasting impression. “When we would go to her house, everything would be made from scratch – she’d make tiramisu, Black Forest cakes, Bolognese – everything! It was cool to be able to see her do that.” Competitions and Career Highlights It’s been a remarkable journey so far for the talented Ash Otto, who considers her greatest career achievement to be her success in competitions, specifically winning gold in the Nestle Golden Chef’s Hat competition in 2017. This led her to represent Australia in Singapore at the Food Hotel Asia event as part of the culinary youth team, which she describes as an incredible experience. “It pushes you out of your comfort zone. It’s months of training, so you get to refine your skills through consistency and repetition. When you’re in the stadium competing, you’ve got some of the world’s best competitive chefs all under the same roof; it’s incredible to watch and be part of.” Chef Works Ambassador Ash can now add Chef Works ambassador to her growing list of accolades - her favourite; “I’m a sucker for jackets and aprons. I do like to mix it up with jackets, but with chef aprons, you can get quite a nice collection - Chef Works has got different colours and styles. I love that I can pick one to suit the mood of the day. If you’ve got a nice event on, you can pick a more colourful jacket, or if you’ve got your hardworking thinking cap on, you can put your black chef jacket on. It’s nice to have that variety for the day.” Ash recalls the first time she wore chef whites at 16, she felt professional and “quite cool”. Now, they are a statement of empowerment. “As soon as you put your chef whites on, you’re empowered. You’re ready to kickstart and conquer the day in the kitchen. I feel like I can be me, it’s a place where I can express my own creativity through food; it’s my comfort zone.” Passionate about mentoring younger chefs, Ash Otto shares the lessons she learned from her own mentors. Her advice, “Be a sponge. Great things never come from comfort zones, you’ve got to step out of them. Take a notebook everywhere and ask chefs questions.” At home, though, Ash is sharing her love of the kitchen with her 15-month-old, much like she learned to cook as a child. “She’s always sitting in a highchair watching me and I’ll give her a carrot or an onion to hold. She doesn’t like cake, she’s happy with her broccoli,” Ash says.
