It is one of those words that by dint of using it so lightly and for an infinite number of situations has seen its meaning distorted. We are talking about creativity, an overused concept in all artistic manifestations, and pastry is no exception. But let’s have a look at a classic definition to clarify what is and what is not creative. Creativity would be the production of an idea or a concept, a creation or a discovery that is new, original, useful and satisfies both its creator and others for a period of time. Therefore, it cannot be creative what is neither new, nor original nor useful, and which, no matter how much it satisfies its ‘creator’, does not cause any positive effect on others for a period of time longer than the duration of an Instagram story.
In this context, we admire the honesty of the young Malaysian pastry chef Chong Ko Wai, whom we interviewed in this issue of so good..magazine, and who leaves us with interesting reflections such as this one: ‘We never actually create, however what we are doing now is just merely improvising from pastry’s fundamental knowledge that has been passed down, because if we say ‘create’, it means making the pastry from scratch without any influence of pastry’s fundamentals.’ Nothing more to add.
So good #27 editorial
