Chef Revelations – Helena Puolakka
What was your best subject at school? History
What was your first job? Working at the first McDonald's in Helsinki
What do you normally have for breakfast? Porridge with my mother's apple jam
What do you do to relax? Hot Bikram yoga
What's your favourite hotel? Hotel Costes in Paris
What is your favourite drink? Chateldon/Pol Roger
Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with? Shark fin, it is sooo cruel
What flavour combinations do you detest? Chocolate and salted liquorice, a Finnish thing, it's a love/hate relationship
Which person in catering have you most admired? Pierre Koffmann
Which person gave you the greatest inspiration? Pierre Gagnaire
Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take? My iPad, Champagne and eyelash curlers
What daily newspaper/website do you read? BBC News and Financial Times
If not yourself, who would you rather have been? Barbra Streisand
What do you always carry with you? My make-up
If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you'd be now? I would have worked hard to be a brilliant domestic goddess with five kids
What's your favourite film? Casablanca
Describe your ultimate nightmare Waking up late in the morning… Aaargh!
When and where was your last holiday? Finland in August
What irritates you most about the industry? Chauvinism
Who would play you in a film about your life? Ingrid Bergman
What is your favourite food/cuisine? French
Who would be in your fantasy brigade? Pierre Koffmann, Pierre Gagnaire, Tom Kitchin, Abel Vielleville (pastry chef at Shangri-La Bejing), Pawel Flajzer, my protégé who worked for me for seven years (who passed away in August) and Jyrki Sukula, a legendary chef from Finland
If you had more time, what would you do? Spend it with my two beautiful daughters, Sofia and Ella
Helena Puolakka, executive chef, Skylon, London
