by Gina Scarpa and Michael Lamp

 

Landing a spot on a reality show is an extremely difficult thing to do so when a contestant just outright quits, it always causes a stir among contestants and fans. That very thing happened on last week's Top Chef: Just Desserts, when Malika decided that she wanted to remove herself from the competition.  We caught up with Malika today in an exclusive interview to find out what led to her exit from the show and what she's up to now.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you want to try out for Top Chef: Just Desserts?
A. Malika: Yes. I actually was referred by other chefs in the industry. That's how I came to the show. It was really exciting. I don't think I would've ever imagined they would do a show about just pastry chefs.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Usually, on shows like Top Chef, the contestants fear making desserts. Why is it the toughest course to get right?
A. Malika: Pastry is an exact science. You really can't do good pastry without recipes. It's not something that can be done with a little bit of trial and error. Regular cooking can be fixed. You can do a lot of things to do a piece of meat. With pastry, if you mismeasure, your cake won't rise or it

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Were you always interested in being a pastry chef?
A. Malika: Honestly, when I was growing up, I came from a very foodcentric family. My father was obsessed with French dessert. My mom would always cook and for dessert, she would make something out of Julia Child's cookbook. I never realized how much it affected me until later on. Cooking was such a big deal in my house. I would watch PBS cooking shows with my father. We bake together and we make ice cream together. It was always very much a part of my life.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Any regrets about sealing your own fate and asking to be sent home?
A. Malika: You know what? I really don't. At the time, when I did it, it was really about the things I had talked about in the episode and what cooking meant to me. Cooking competitively, where everybody is trying to one up everyone... I had come from a lot of loss in my life that year. My father had died suddenly of a heart attack, which was the greatest loss of my life. There was that, the divorce, losing the restaurant... when I was there, I really hated cooking. I felt like it was not for me. I would go back and forth but as I progressed, it really didn't matter if I was Top Chef or not. I know who I am and I know what cooking is to me. Where I am in my life, I feel good after watching last night's episode. I make my own decisions and I say that laughing.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are your thoughts on Seth and the way he left the show?
A. Malika: Seth's exit was very unfortunate. He was going through a lot as you can see on the show. He was having some personal problems. I feel bad that all those problems came to fruition on national television. He's very talented and it was a lot of unfortunate circumstances, perhaps before he came to the show.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: After seeing, firsthand, the kind of stress a competition like this can bring, what kind of advice would you give interested cheftestants?
A. Malika: I think the one thing you have to stay focused on and remember is not to think or worry about what the person next to you is doing. In the regular Top Chef and in Just Desserts, we're chosen, not because we do the exact same thing, but because we're the best at what we do in our own styles. Just focus on what you do and what you know you do well. A lot of chefs in the industry told me to keep things simple.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What's next for you?
A. Malika: I have launched my own online business that sells couture cookies, very high end cookies. You can request custom orders which I've been doing a lot since I closed my restaurant some time ago. People have a lot of different requests. I'm selling the cookies and they can be shipped anywhere. It's called ByMDesserts.com.

 

 

Top Chef: Just Desserts airs Wednesdays on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa and Michael at twitter.com/mjlamp

 

For more Top Chef: Just Desserts links, visit SirLinksALot.net