"I use blue mold cheese, goat cheese, brie, ricotta, and camembert in my desserts - I love to put sweet and savory together."
The News
"The desserts of the future? They are savory, not just sweet,” says Camila Fiol in an interview with The World's 50 Best. And who but she can make predictions about the future of world pastry as truthful as she can? Honored with the title of Latin America's Best Pastry Chef Award in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024, Camila always knew that in her life she would have to deal with desserts, but those far from molasses, mind you! In her career, she has broken Chilean pastry diktats through creations with authentic flavors, never taken for granted, with an approach that is classic in concept but cutting edge in execution.
She never uses artificial flavors or colorings in desserts, and the protagonists are exclusively Chilean fruits and products, except for tonka bean and yuzu. Cheeses also find ample space in Fiol's desserts, as in the case of macarons with walnuts, white chocolate, blue cheese and pear; the ice cream sandwich with blue cheese and raspberry jam; and her favorite: a cookie with milk chocolate, vanilla, salt and Grana Padano.
"I use a lot of blue cheese, goat cheese, brie, cottage cheese and camembert. I love to combine sweet and salty, chocolate with salt is really amazing, it creates umami," she says. With her “non-sweet desserts,” Camila celebrates the flavors and traditions of her homeland, in a journey that began back in 2010 when, after hotel school, she arrived at Boragó, a restaurant that has consistently appeared among the 50 best restaurants in Latin America over the past decade. Boragó then offered foie gras and truffle dishes, but soon, chef-owner Rodolfo Guzmán decided to start using only Chilean ingredients. It was an incredible period for Camila, characterized by deep and frantic research that led her to become head pastry chef. Since then, time has passed and Fiol has come a long way: she attended a master's degree in pastry at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián, where, later, she became a teacher; she has traveled all over the world and opened Fiol Dulceria, her first store in 2021.
It took just one year of operation of the workshop in Santiago, Chile's Barrio Italia, for Camila to appear among the 50 Next people under the age of 35 thanks to her work as a pastry chef, entrepreneur and educator, a source of inspiration for the younger generation of pastry chefs and cake makers. With a desire to continue traveling and experimenting everywhere in the world, she confides, “I am convinced that research and development are the basis for creating new experiences through the palate. I wish to continue creating desserts with unique flavors that speak of my country and are a constant journey for the imagination."
