Famous Czech pastry chef Mirka van Gils (59): 'Think positive, don't be afraid and be humble. Success will come to you"

Recently, you successfully completed a campaign for a new book on the crowdfunding site Hit Hit. What do you think about the result?

At my age, I'm very proud that something like this was successful. You see, getting me into people's subconscious at all and making it work on social media and mastering all the other innovations that are needed today requires constant explaining from my mini-team so that I, as an old lady, understand it.

When they came to me with HitHit, I didn't even know what it was at the start. But of course I know crowdfunding and I liked the idea that when people invest, they get something in return. It allowed us to self-publish the book. It raised 330 percent of our original plan, which covered our costs. We were able to afford to produce a unique book that we are terribly proud of. It's great that fans were able to contribute to the book as well.

What do you think?

My fans collaborated on things like the title of the book, where we gave them the opportunity to choose the final one. But they also picked the photographs. So everyone has a sense of belonging and everyone has contributed to the book, which is great.

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Sources: Archiv Mirka van Gils

How long did the book take to make?

Come to think of it, sometime in mid-March the quarantine started and I managed to leave the Czech Republic for the Netherlands at the last minute. The day after I left, the border closed. For the first month of the quarantine, I devoted myself to studying Mirka and making videos, because I wondered what people would do with the quantum of flour and yeast they had stocked up on. After that, I slowly moved on to making the book. But it's clear that I already had a few recipes in my stash because I create and save them on an ongoing basis. Then I put them together as part of the book, and then only then do I create the concept of the book.

And if you were to take us through the concept of the current book?

If I were to give it a subtitle, it would be something like "The European Confectioner". There are no exotics except coconut. Unless you count the spices. But you won't find any passion fruit, mangoes or anything like that. Although that wasn't the goal, I was quite surprised myself at how it turned out.

Going back to the very beginning of your career, how did you get into confectionery in the first place?

I often think about it. But ever since I was a kid, my dad wanted me to pursue a real craft that would support me and survive everything. I really wanted to be an artist, but he wasn't too keen on that.

Admittedly, I've apologized to him so many times since then, you can't imagine. As soon as the first competitions started to appear and the first successes started to come, for example, when I won a competition in Katowice at the age of 18, which was the maximum possible success in those communist times, I took it differently and fell in love with confectionery. Then it gradually developed further.

You know, I'm a Capricorn. He's either completely lazy and does nothing, or he moves on from solid ground with all the vigor he can muster. That's how I was. When I started learning the craft, I worked really hard at it. Then I also discovered that I could harness my sense of artistry beautifully in my craft. I've been competing since my sophomore year of high school. Gradually I started creating recipes until it evolved into what it is today.

So can you say you're successful?

I don't know. What does it mean to be successful? I think it's a natural parallel directly proportional to our performance. Capricorns are great analysts. I had no need to be famous and successful. I'm a perfectionist and I want to do things in a way that gives me intrinsic satisfaction. Which in turn generates more value for me.

No doubt there's a lot of work and effort behind it, but can you consider it a success?

Of course it's satisfying what it's come to, but nobody does something just to fall flat. The fact that other things have come with it makes me happy, but I didn't set it as the first milestone I wanted to reach. The most important thing to me is that I'll be able to bake you a simple cake and you'll melt with it.

And how do you do that when you go to a cake shop? You must be a little deformed to judge everything and find faults?

Sometimes I wonder whether or not to rate the food, but in a way it's kind of my duty. If I'm in the business and I'm really serious about it, I have to be able to praise but also point out the negative.

So will you soon make some similar evaluation labels like Zdenek Pohlreich?

I'm thinking about a lot of things, but I can't quite grasp it yet. I'm not a fan of vulgarity or any kind of hard approach. No one deserves anything like that. Each one of us will do the best we can at that moment, the way we are set up to do it. But for the industry to move forward, you need a certain variety of people to come out and say what they think.

Photo: Archiv Mirka van Gils

Going back to your penchant for art, is that the reason why you are such a distinctive and colourful personality? I'm referring now to your hair, outfit, etc.

You know, on the one hand I'm a bit of a bohemian, but on the other hand, like all of us, I've had stretches in my life that are very dark and within which I've struggled a lot. These manifest themselves in me mostly in black. I mean mentally. When you come out of those sections you just hate the color, at least I do. What we wear is reflected in us. When I'm wearing colored things, I feel good and I feel like sunshine.

But I guess that doesn't make you escape the increased attention on the street?

Yes, but thankfully I get more people complimenting me and saying my hair is awesome. Most of all, I entertain little kids. I hear a lot of, " That's cool." I've had every color in my life except black. I've been told occasionally that I need to draw attention to myself, but I don't. It's my choice.

On the other hand, I like to be quiet and sometimes I prefer to keep to myself. But the colourful world is just fun for me. When I'm at my worst, I paint. When I was at my worst, I painted a huge picture of paradise with pink flamingos. It's hanging in my apartment and whenever someone comes over, they always say there's something in it. It has my energy of color and goodness.

Does baking have a positive effect on you in times of difficulty?

You bet. Sometimes I get a little "baked." I can make dough at night. When I'm stressed, it works. The world itself is a colorful array of people. You have good people and bad people. You have tolerant people, hateful people, and of course all the positive mutations of those words. When I meet the worse people and something happens, I start baking. I bake and I bake at them! (laughs) Whoever doesn't bake with us, bakes against us. That's one of my mottos.

Do your sons follow that motto?

I have a follower in my younger son. He's also already travelled to competitions and has interned in Michelin restaurants. But he's more interested in molecular cuisine. I discourage him a little bit because I don't like chemistry in the kitchen. I tell him it's all about the language. But it's nice, because at home we sometimes argue about who's going to cook.

I'd love it if it grew to other families. I'm looking forward to having breakfast, lunch and dinner together as a family. If possible, always with a beautiful table set. I do that with all the people who come to my house.

What about the older son?

He's fulfilling my other "artistic" dream. And I have to say, I haven't pushed either son to do what they're supposed to do in life. My older son didn't turn out to be an artist until he was 15. He didn't paint until he was fifteen and now studies at the Art Academy in Utrecht. He's going to be an illustrator. He has even written a book and designed my logo.

I'm very happy about that. And I have to say, it's nice when you get kids to wise up. At the same time, when they do it on their own. That's the ticket to a happy life.

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You're known to live half in Holland and half in the Czech Republic. How balanced are these halves?

If it weren't for the corona, I would be in the Czech Republic much more than in Holland this year. But otherwise it's really 50/50 and it's divine. The Czech Republic is my base of operations. I work here a lot and the days are long. I wake up at six in the morning and I don't get home until eight or ten at night. At the same time, I'm not an unknown here, but thank goodness all the people and fans are incredibly kind and tactful, so it's nice to be greeted nicely. But of course it's great to have my privacy, which I have especially in Holland. I can go to the store without make-up on, which I wouldn't risk here. (laughs)

I'm well-travelled and I don't think I could sit and live in one place. I need to move all the time. I'll even plan a vacation from one day to the next and just go if there's time. I'm not worried about where I'm going to sleep, whether I'll get along or anything else. I am simply a citizen of the world. I don't see anything as a problem. It seems to me that society today causes a lot of its own problems, and quite unnecessarily.

It's true that positive energy radiates from you, but not everybody is able to be so positive... On the contrary, it seems to me that in the Czech Republic, for example, many people are very negative, tend to humiliate themselves all the time, etc.

Tell me why? Everyone has some value and no one is better or worse. Not politicians, not celebrities, not me. Sometimes people on my courses are terribly stressed out. If they knew how stressed out I am about them? I'm scared I'll make a mistake, that it won't be good, whether they'll like it, etc. I'd say there's a lot more on my shoulders.

However, it shows that you can work with it. So do you have a recipe for positive thinking and maybe even getting rid of the nervousness?

Don't ask me, because you can't put that in an interview anyway. (laughs)

Oh, come on...

When I started making desserts for influential people, who we normally have a lot of respect for (presidents, ministers, celebrities), I always said to myself that I have to imagine that person getting up in the morning and being disheveled and going to the bathroom half asleep. (Laughs) I had to realize that they were the same people as me and that's how I learned to move in this society.

Well, on a positive note, I have another motto, which is, "Love me or leave me." I'm not gonna waste angry energy. If people can program themselves for positivity, they will start sending it out too and the naysayers won't get to them as much. The negative is afraid of the positive.

Is that how the power of thought works? You believe in something like that?

Definitely. I'll tell you one thing. A month after my divorce, I got an invitation from TV to be a judge on Bake All the Land. That's the Czech version of The Great British Bake Off, by the way. It was one of my lifelong dreams to be on that show. Since then, a literal carnage of positive things have unfolded. I just spread my wings and then it just took off.

People need to be more accepting that if they stumble, they can move on. A child stumbles many times before he learns to walk. Did you happen to say something wrong? You just said it because you didn't know how else to speak at that moment. So it's important not to be afraid, to be humble and to know that nothing is a given. A kind of natural courtesy might come back to people.

For example, I find it charming when a young gentleman lets me sit on the tram and I tell him that he is a wonderful gentleman and that I thank him very much. I think there will be pleasure on both sides. The other ladies usually say, " I don't want to sit, I'm not that old."

You're talking about a young gentleman, who are your fans? Are they young people too?

My fan base today is about 80,000 people and I think of them as my big family, which I often work with. Obviously it's a huge percentage of women, but I feel for all my fans and I know I have a huge group of gay men and I love them all. They're great.

The age range is from two years old to unlimited. I love it when I think young people bake for me, for whom I'm like a mom or a grandmother teaching them. I'm also honored when older people bake for me. I hope to be able to spread the joy for as long as possible.