Corinne Venegas (36) is Switzerland’s top hobby chef: from cooking show fan to winning chef

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We meet Corinne Venegas in her cozy apartment in Zurich. Wearing an olive green beanie with wild curls hidden underneath, she stands in her kitchen and cooks for us what she loves to do most: dessert. “I like sweets,” she says with a smile. But it wasn’t just her desserts that scored points on the TV jury: she convinced her with her consistent cooking style, aesthetics and creativity, both technically and tastefully.

Venegas is the winner of the famous cooking show “Masterchef Schweiz 2023” and only the second woman to receive this award. “It’s great for a woman to win again. I’m happy about it!” Venice laughs. The cute, single mom from Zurich won in nine episodes against 18 other amateur chefs in her cooking battle show. The final broadcast aired this Tuesday evening.

Knöpfli with applesauce was her favorite dish

Eating was already a big topic in his childhood. He grew up in an idyllic, romantic village of Aargau, surrounded by nature, and as a child he had his own little bed in the garden. “We had a huge bathroom that became our little kitchen: for example, we used to soak noodles for hours in warm water running from the taps. Of course, that took a long time,” she says, brightly all over her face. During the call, the alarm clock suddenly goes off, Venegas gets up and disappears into the kitchen. The cake needs a little more.

Being a big fan of all cooking shows like “Chef’s Table” or “My Kitchen Impossible”, he took the plunge and signed up for “Masterchef Switzerland”. “I want to try it too,” thought Venegas, and he immediately won the show. But in addition to his cooking skills, authenticity is also important on the show: Venegas said “Crazy Shit” when under pressure or when he had to shed a few tears. It went well for the audience and the jury.

Venegas wasn’t always in the kitchen: he decorated and created living spaces and was the general manager of the Oro de Cacao chocolate shop in Zurich’s Niederdorf district. But the show encouraged him to follow his passion. She now works as a cook at the Zurich restaurant Certo and is in charge of cold dishes. This Friday and Saturday, the show’s last dessert is temporarily on the menu: Florentine pastries and lavender ice cream with apricot compote.

good luck with your new job

Now that his hobby has turned into work, Venegas realizes how lucky he is in terms of his job and working conditions in the restaurant. There is a serious shortage of qualified personnel in the industry. But it also has positive aspects for him: “Employers have to organize their day-to-day work more creatively, employees are making many important demands today. This is great!” he says.

Venegas was delighted, he managed to sign up. “Personally, I found it important to be involved without bias and see what happens. Just like everything else in life.” The winner Venegas will now be able to create his own recipe book and attend cooking classes with Migros’ book “Mi Gusto”. Suddenly the kitchen smells of sweet fruits and nuts, the cake is ready. How nice!

thyme currant cake recipe

(approx 17cm diameter) lemon cream

Cake

lemon cream

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Beat butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon zest and a pinch of salt with a hand mixer, then add 3 eggs and beat until frothy.

2. Add the ground almonds followed by 1/2 teaspoon of thyme and mix in the flour and finally the chopped hazelnuts. Pour into a springform tin, sprinkle with currants and bake for about 45 minutes at 180 degrees top/bottom.

3. Lightly heat the lemon juice and lemon zest with the sugar, boil it with the egg yolk until it turns pink, then add the butter with a pinch of salt and puree it with a hand blender. Then add the soaked leaf gelatin and puree again. Refrigerate the lemon cream for 1 hour.

4. Mix the lemon juice and powdered sugar and pour it over the still warm cake and sprinkle the remaining thyme leaves.

Source : Blick