I grew up around sweets and pastries. My dad started a chain of Middle Eastern pastry stores in Bahrain called Tariq Pastries, which made classics like baklawa and ma'amoul. At the same time I got to sample fine French pastries, like Petits Fours, St. Honoré, and Napoleons; so my tastes became a fusion of both pastry-making traditions.

As you know Middle Eastern pastries tend to be heavy on sugar (and the calories). There was a reason for this; they were meant to keep longer and travel well. By contrast French pastries have a tendency to be more delicate and are meant to be eaten immediately.

What I try to do in my work is fuse those rich Middle Eastern flavors with the delicacy of French pastry techniques. There are certain flavors like cardamom and saffron which resonate with Middle Eastern palates. What happens if you take an éclair and fill it with saffron or orange blossom infused cream? Those are the sort of combinations I’m always thinking about in my head.

The main reason I chose Paris was to tap into that knowledge and pastry-making tradition. In order to innovate you first need a good foundation in the basics of pastry making. You have to be capable of making the classics before you can innovate.

Our curriculum was pretty intense; not just in terms of being up early every morning to prepare for courses, but also in terms of understanding your ingredients. Cooking is a lot like chemistry, the way you mix different elements together can produce varying results. An understanding of the quality of ingredients and where they come from was one of the most valuable lessons I took home with me.

I’m often asked why an éclair in Amman doesn’t taste exactly like one in Paris, and the reason for that are the ingredients. The type of milk, flour and butter used are completely different based on what’s available in local markets. To import those ingredients would be cost prohibitive, so I try to reinterpret recipes to suit local tastes instead of simply copying.

In terms of Middle Eastern cooking I think we owe a huge debt of gratitude to people like Anissa Helou and Claudia Rodin, who were responsible for putting Middle Eastern cuisine on the culinary map. We think nothing today of sampling a plate of houmous at Fakhreddine in London, but up until the late 60’s no one outside of the region even knew what houmous was. It was thanks in part to Rodin’s, “A Book of Middle Eastern Food” published in 1968, which opened the world’s eyes to the sophisticated culinary traditions of the Middle East.

In Paris, in addition to the greats like Pierre Hermé’s maccarons, I also love pastry chef Sadaharu Aoki’s Japanese twist on French pastries. Walking into his tiny boutique pâtisserie near the Jardins du Luxembourg is an amazing culinary experience. He makes the most delicate green tea éclairs, with Matcha tea imported from Kyoto, as well as black sesame and red bean variations of French cakes.

I was lucky to have grown up in a family of strong and accomplished women. We were never told what we couldn’t do, instead we learnt by example. Both my mother and aunt were part of the first (and small) group of Bahraini women to be sent to college abroad (mostly to Beirut in the beginning). We think nothing today of studying abroad as Arab women, but up until the early 60’s in the Gulf it was unheard of to send your daughters to study in a foreign country, let alone pursue a Bachelor’s degree.

If you consider that up until the late 50’s a majority of females in the Gulf were illiterate, this was a revolutionary act of faith on the part of the government. All eyes were on these girls to excel, because they were seen as an experiment on the part of the government. They essentially paved the way for future generations of Bahraini women, and it’s important to never forget that legacy or take it for granted.

In some ways yes it is, because that’s what gives you a sense of self worth, more so than buying a shiny new car. My grandfather spoke four languages and over the years accumulated an immense library of books, as well as a collection of letters and correspondences with well-know writers, philosophers and poets from places as diverse as Damascus, Baghdad and Tehran. This was the sort of environment my mother and aunts grew up in, where they were encouraged to do great things in life.

My aunt and mother didn’t stop at a bachelors degree, but continued on to the United States to study for their doctoral degree’s and returned to Bahrain to take up high positions in their respective fields. When they came back in the 70’s they were part of the first wave of graduates who shaped Bahrain’s higher education system. They weren’t being hired because they were women, but because they were good at what they did and had the knowledge base and experience to get things done.

Those weren’t small steps for Arab and Bahraini women, but huge leaps in the span of a relatively short period of time. Today we need to ask ourselves: are we taking small steps or huge leaps?

I loved living in Paris and try to get back there as often as I can, but in retrospect that path had already been paved for myself and other Bahraini women. In the early 70’s my mom was one of the first Bahraini women to become a Fulbright Scholar and go to the United States for her Doctoral degree. During that same period my aunt was living in Paris as one of Bahrain’s representatives to UNESCO (Bahrain had only gained independence from England in 1971). It’s very inspiring when I think that they weren’t that much older than myself when they were doing these things at the time. Today they speak English and French fluently and have traveled the world representing Bahrain at conferences.

This is probably my favorite bag! I got it in Beirut a few years ago. It’s from Sarah’s Bag, As for the rest. Here it goes!

1. Agent Provocateur lip gloss (it’s so light & the perfect shade of pink).
2. A Cordon Bleu cookbook called Desserts, it has some great tips and techniques.
3. My favorite perfume, Daisy, by Marc Jacobs.
4. My Ipod nano (right now I'm listening to the new NERD album).
5. I usually carry a small note book from SuckUK to jot down ideas. It has a built-in compartment for a pencil which makes it practical to carry around.
6. My Nokia N78 phone because it’s kind of environmentally friendly (it's one of those energy saving phones).
7. My Bulgari sunglasses.

8. A keychain from Colette (my favorite store in Paris), which is kind of my good luck charm.
9. When I’m in Paris I usually carry a small bag of macaroons that are a great source of energy when I’m busy running to appointments around the city. 

For all inquiries regarding Pâtisserie May’s custom-made cakes and pastries please contact: patisserie.may@gmail.com