Chef Pásztori István

I am Pásztori István, the winner of the 2024 hungarian Master Chef.

My love for cooking has been ingrained in my daily life since childhood, and as the years passed, I always strived to master new skills and take my culinary expertise to the next level. As a child, I spent a lot of time in the countryside, which was truly formative for me. I witnessed the processing of vegetables and animals and was constantly involved in kitchen activities. While some might taste pigeon for the first time in an elite French restaurant, I had my first taste at the age of 6 in Bürkös, where we spent our summers. It was there that I learned to process rabbit and chicken by the age of 10, and I also baked bread in a wood-fired oven, discovering the true essence of sourdough. I entered the competition at the request of my partner, Gereben Lívia, who felt there was something

M in me that could take me all the way. And so, it happened - I won the competition, and it was an immense joy for me to be chosen as the winner of A Konyhafőnök 2024 by such a renowned jury, including my mentor Kaszás Kornél (Bábel*), Rácz Jenő (Costes *, Rumour*), Tóth Szilárd (Salt **)