Silvina Demare
08/11/2021 6:15 AM
Clarín.com
Live
Updated 08/11/2021 6:15 AM
Recently a friend told Damián Betular: “Betu, you are like a sponge cake.
You have the perfect dose of flour, sugar, butter and eggs.
All that makes you rich ”.
Is that the secret by which everyone wants to be friends with this 38-year-old pastry chef, who became the star of the
MasterChef Celebrity
program while
being a judge?
In principle, it gives him a bit of shame to feel so loved.
He is grateful for it, enjoys it and then he encourages himself to add ingredients to this cake: “I think that empathy, putting oneself in someone else's shoes, being clear and accompanying me, brought me closer to people.
They are behaviors that I have dreamed of since I was a child ”.
Betular became a very popular character in these last two years.
It is one of the revelations of television in this pandemic.
For more than almost 20 years he has been in the gastronomic sector, since 2020 his fame has grown.
His first appearance on TV was on
Bake Off
, the amateur pastry reality show, where he started out shy.
The media explosion took place at
MasterChef Celebrity,
where he is a judge along with Germán Martitegui and Donato de Santis.
There he was encouraged to show his histrionic side and became a key piece.
Always impeccable and well looked, Betular dressed up, sang, danced, played sexy, got angry and cried.
Pure emotion.
Pure feeling.
This is how he fell in love with an audience ranging from babies to grandparents.
Now, do your thing at
Hands Up, Chef!
, a reality show broadcast by the Paramount + signal for all of Latin America.
And it will be part of the new
Bake Off
and the next
MasterChef Celebrity,
both cycles that Telefé broadcasts.
There is Betular for a while.
But let's get to know the pastry chef more.
As a boy, zero sports.
Nobody wanted me on their team.
But I didn't care because I understood them.
Damien Betular
Those bread and cheese
He was born and raised in Dolores, province of Buenos Aires, where his parents live.
His father, Nestor, was a transporter, had a carpentry, worked in tolls and is retired.
His mother, María del Carmen, has a gift shop with her name that has been in the business for more than 35 years.
Damien talks to them three times a day.
He remembers that he grew up between pencils and notebooks: "He drew landscapes, animals, a bit of everything."
Of course: zero sport.
He was always the last to be chosen to play soccer.
“Nobody wanted me on their team. But I didn't care, because I understood them. I never suffered bullying or verbal violence. I had a lot of friends, ”he says
.
He studied at the Normal School of Dolores, where he was a diligent student.
Even as a boy he was obsessive about cleanliness and order.
He did high school in a technical school with an electromechanical orientation: “But already in the fifth year I knew that I was not going to be an engineer and that I was not going to stay in Dolores.
I love big cities.
He loved Buenos Aires.
I came often because my parents traveled every 15 days to buy gift items.
I remember entering through Puerto Madero was like Disney.
The biggest prize for me was going to Buenos Aires
”.
Damian Betular at the Duhau Palace.
Photo: Germán Adrasti.
The Pichuco grill
Betular had always been in contact with the kitchen: food was the subject of enjoyment and conversation at home.
As a child he used to watch his mother make cakes.
Always cakes.
“We copied
Utilísima
recipes
so we could make them later.
Those of Osvaldo Gross, Francis Malmann and Choly Berreteaga.
And I watched Marta Ballina on TV ”.
On Sundays they made big feasts in the house of their grandparents: Pichuco and Pocha.
"My grandfather was very demanding Pichuco with food and wanted to
have three different dishes every day: a chicken to the oven with potatoes, pasta and stew, for example.
My grandmother had that daily demand.
A genius ”, he comments.
His family also owns a grill on the route: “His name is Carlitos and it is as soon as one passes the roundabout of Dolores to go to the Coast.
It's from my cousins.
It's a huge grill.
Whenever I go it is full of raw chorizo and hams.
My grandfather Pichuco worked there for many years ”, he adds proudly.
Betular with his parents, Néstor and María del Carmen.
Both continue to live in Dolores, province of Buenos Aires.
The takeoff
Son 'and tiger, Betular also gave banter with the spatula and bucket: "start with the basics. He knew how to make puddings, inverted cake. But I needed to professionalize myself. So, at 18 I came to Buenos Aires. I settled in with my friend
Pupi,
in Junín and Santa Fe. I started studying at the
IAG
(Argentine Institute of Gastronomy). I attended twice a week and the other days I went back to Dolores and worked in Mom's boutique ”.
His beginning in gastronomy was complicated. “I rowed it to get my first job.
Once I graduated, I got a job in a restaurant in Palermo:
Lambaré
. At the time I took my first big step, I went to Sucre, a
'wow
'
restaurant
. They took me to make entries: I made
carpaccio.
There I saw Alex Atala cooking, Fernando Trocca, great
chefs
... ”, he recalls.
And he adds: “At the time, Pamela Villar, the pastry executive, offered me a vacancy to move to her sector.
I accepted delighted.
I started working at night and making desserts, which was what I liked the most.
We made a
cheesecake
that had my decorations on it.
Very high gastronomy for a large volume of people: 350 people per day.
I got tanned.
It was 2004. From there I started working in pastry making and I didn't stop anymore ”.
In 2010 he was called to be part of the inauguration of the
Hotel Algodón Mansión
: “It was the kid's dream.
Amazing place, new French crockery, everything was nice.
It was my first job as a pastry chef ”.
As a child I used to see my mother make cakes.
Always cakes.
We copied Utilísima recipes so we could make them later.
Damien Betular
Damián Betular with his great friend: Humberto Tortonese.
To eat the world
At the same time, the possibility of entering the
Hyatt appeared
, which changed his life: “I had to present an
Argentine bakery
food show
;
French bakery, Italian bakery;
tea time and desserts for events.
I got a little stressed.
It was a big challenge and I passed it.
I entered as a pastry chef.
Ten years have passed.
For me it is a dream come true ”.
More surprises awaited him: “
Hyatt
has a
boom
in hotel openings around the world and I traveled for years: Rio de Janeiro, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta, Chicago. Chili. I was going as a brand ambassador to standardize pastry.
They were great challenges that I was overcoming. And I confirmed that this was what he loved. I put a lot of things aside, but I don't deny it,
”says Betular, now executive chef of Palacio Duhau-Park Hyatt Buenos Aires.
Others were added to the geographical trips, the media: “I came to the
Bake Off
casting
because they were looking for references of pastry in Argentina in five-star hotels. I did the test and I thought I had not stayed, because it was a long time before they told me that I had been chosen as a jury. The show was weekly and the stars were Christophe (Krywonis) and Paula Chaves (the host), of course. It was great because it blew me away. Crisptophe advised me a lot ”.
Then came the
MasterChef
proposal
.
“They wanted to meet me.
I didn't think it was going to stay.
I prefer to have a low expectation.
He knew Donato and Germán.
When they told me: 'With celebrities', I thought they were going to eat me between two loaves of bread.
But no.
The first exceeded expectations.
People started to recognize me more.
And the pandemic made us a great company for viewers.
The age range surprises me: from boys to grandparents.
When I go to bed, I say, 'Thank you
.'
The obsessive
Betular lives alone in Palermo.
He wakes up without an alarm clock, he wakes up five minutes before the indicated time: “I get up quite ATR (At full speed).
The first thing I do is air the house.
It is a very country custom that I kept from when I lived there.
I like the fresh air.
I can't leave home if the bed isn't made ”.
When he leaves, he leaves everything conditioned, impeccable, as if it were a good hotel room.
He likes to share his obsession with order with Ninfa, the lady who helps him and whom he adores.
Betular cooks little at home.
Choose to dine early in a restaurant, contrary to the malón, to be calm.
Betular, along with Germán Martitegui, Donato de Santi and Georgina Barbarrosa, on MasterChef Celebrity.
The reality show that Telefé aired had an average of 20 rating points.
-While they were taking your photos, I observed the number of people who approached you to praise you and take a selfie with you. How do you live it?
-I enjoy it and take it easy.
I do not finish falling.
I go out little because of the Covid.
In the supermarket, many times, they recognize me by my voice, despite my chinstrap and cap.
The thing of the TV is a job.
If I bring joy to people, as I do with pastry, my mission is more than accomplished.
-You were more shy, but now you show your histrionic streak, how did it happen?
-Being in front of a camera is not easy.
My first experience, at
Bake Off,
was weekly.
At
MasterChef
, being with two great friends as jurors, on a daily basis, I forgot about the camera.
I am what is seen, a mixture of everything.
-What would that mix be like?
-I'm shy and funny.
Sometimes very formal because of my profession, the hotel industry.
But I have a lot of humor.
At work there are good and bad days;
I always try to take the positive side, that of good humor.
I don't live in a bubble, but I try to de-dramatize everything as much as possible.
Teamwork motivates me.
-I imagine that with so much exposure your life changed.
-Yes, a lot, but not on TV but because of things that were happening, because of people who are no longer there, friends.
Like Federico Juno, a co-worker who was transferred to Bogotá.
He had a splendid life, a divine wife, two children.
He was riding his bicycle, he was hit by a car, he fell and died.
These things make life more valuable.
I don't project, I never really knew what I was going to do next.
If you ask me what I want five years from now, I'll tell you: 'Be calm.'
I live today, I spend time with my family and friends.
I was always very reserved with my feelings.
I think there is nothing to clarify.
There was not at that time and less now.
Damien Betular
-You got a lot of friends?
-No, I count them with one hand.
Germán (Martitegui) is one.
Humberto Tortonese, a soul brother, another.
And Mercedes Conti, la Negra, a lifelong friend of Dolores.
-There are those who suppose that you and Humberto are a couple. What is true?
- (
Laughter
) Not that much either.
Humberto is my best friend.
We adore each other.
We have traveled with our couples.
We have a spectacular synergy.
It is family.
A person who tells me a day before: 'I need this madness'.
And I do.
- Was it difficult for you to share your sentimental choices with your family?
-I was always very reserved with my feelings. I think there is nothing to clarify. There was not at that time and less now.
I was always very accompanied by my family;
They respected me, supported me and I felt free.
It never came to me to ask or gossip about anyone.
Like, today there is more talk.
I think there is still a long way to go when it comes to inclusion and respecting the rights of the other.
They are advancing with the laws, but all that has to go down to the level, until we all realize that no one is more or less.
-You were talking about what you resigned for your work. Does it have to do with not having started a family or being a father?
-I don't have a
checklist
of my life.
To feel fulfilled I don't have to get married, have two children and two cats.
The fulfillment has to do with each one, and I feel fulfilled.
I never thought about being a father.
I am surrounded by children because my friends are parents and I enjoy them.
But that is not in my plans.
My profession is my great love.
-How do you handle the competition in the trade?
-I don't get involved, I don't compete, I live in my world. The only thing I try is that the Argentine pastry shop is recognized
.
Also, I think that with the pandemic there is a paradigm shift.
There is no more time for the egg or for the thread.
You lose energy and do bad.
During the photoshoot at Palacio Duhau -Park Hyatt, Betular was intercepted by fans who asked him to take a selfie.
Photo: Germán Adrasti.
-Do you have any dreams to fulfill?
-That's with the dreams.
What can it be, have a bakery with my name on it?
Maybe.
I am also doing a pastry book that will be out next year.
It will be edited by Catapult.
My big dream was to be able to live in Buenos Aires and it is fulfilled.
I was saying to my mom the other day: "Everything that came after the Hyatt I take as a great gift."
It can last long or short, but that for me is a great gift.
-And are you ready for the spell to end?
- (
Laughter
) Yes. For me, fame and popularity are fleeting.
I am not delighted.
My trade and my job is to be a pastry chef.
TV serves as a bridge for me.
I'm not going to lie to you that being known generates a lot of good things, as well as others.
Now I am doing a cookbook that Catapult will publish next year, and it makes me happy.
For me, everything is a great dream come true, to come from where I come and to be where I am.
I appreciate the opportunities a lot.
There are many people who do not have a very good time.
In the future I would like to help socially.
-You talked about living today. Do you think about death? Are you afraid of him?
-No, it gives me anguish for the one who remains and suffers.
I don't think about death.
I'm kind of averse to doctors, but I go, I get vaccinated.
I'm positive.
To feel fulfilled I don't have to get married, have two children and two cats.
The fulfillment has to do with each one, and I feel fulfilled.
I never thought about being a father.
Damien Betular
-What would you like to change about yourself?
-I try to improve my diet.
A year and a half ago I gave up a light drink from which I drank liters and liters.
I love eat.
I like everything in bread.
I love flour, but I'm trying to give it up.
I'm kind of careless with myself.
I am more concerned about what happens to the other than to me.
I am trying to change that.
I'm not going to therapy.
I have to try to be a little more selfish.
I am very detached.
-That's why everyone wants to be your friends.
- (laughs)
I don't know.
It will be because I am good, but not so good;
bad, but not so bad;
I am ironic but not so much.
Having everything in its right dose is important, and a job.
-Can you imagine ending your life in the country, where you were born?
-I imagine finishing it in the south.
Have a hotel with three or four rooms, and do everything: from being at the reception, cooking ... everything!
That would be a nice ending, easy, right?
We thank @elbogdenat, Lacoste and the Palacio Duhau-Park Hyatt Buenos Aires for the realization of this note.
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