She Didn`t Slip, She Wasn`t Pushed, She Fell Head Over Heels in Love

14
Paula’s
Place
VOLUME 101 ISSUE 11
She Didn’t Slip, She Wasn’t Pushed,
She Fell Head Over Heels in Love
(Paula Marckx meets a younger alter ego)
T
PHOTO COURTESY OF P. NAESSENS
have become the successful career woman she
is today if she had launched herself under her
husband’s name. Not Pascale, she stuck to her
maiden name. She is a classic example of how
many loves one can cherish at the same time
in a lifetime on different scales. She wanted to
create romance in her life. Not merely by sitting
closely to Paul with a violinist playing at their
table, but the table had to be dressed the right
way, and the food on the plates had to be attractive and tasty without overstatement.
One thing lead to another, and when she was
in Tunisia on a holiday with Paul, she noticed
a woman making ceramic objects in front of
her door. Pascale was so overwhelmed by the
beauty of it that she decided that she wanted to
do this as well. Back home, the first thing she
did was look for someone who could teach her
how to do this, then she installed the necessary
equipment at her home, and was on her way to
a new venture, another share of the world she
was creating. She went to see a giant ceramic
producer and asked him if he was interested in
eventually adding her creations to his collection. First, he was hesitant, people around here
were used to white plates, and hers were full of
color, but he was willing to try, and unexpectedly it appeared to be successful.
Before long, Pascale and Paul were dining
at tables that Pascale designed, eating on plates
that she had made in their special oven, eating
the food that of course she prepared. And this
brings us to another of her love stories, her love
for natural food. It was clearly evident that she
had to share this with other people. And that is
how she went into publishing. She worked on
her first book for about three years before it was
ready and someone was willing to publish it. It
was an instant success because she offered recipes that can easily be prepared in a day to day
kitchen. Including all her different books, more
than one million copies have
been sold. Her new book,
Natural Food That Makes
You Happy, will certainly be
a smash. Since she won the
Gourmand Award for cookbooks, her books have been
translated into French, English, German and Chinese.
Pascale is in her midforties now, her husband
Paul is entering his seventies and still a fine producer.
They have been married for
about 25 years, very proud
of each other and still madPHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.PUREPASCALE.COM
he first time I heard the name
crossed. Looking back more than
Pascale Naessens was when
twenty years ago one could say they
her name was romantically
were made for each other, they both
linked with one of our leading TV
had a special kind of charisma and
personalities in the beginning of the
though maybe at that time they did
nineties. She was and still is a beauty,
not realize it, the same urge to stick
a young lady who had been modelto their own personality. Not long afing since her 18th birthday all over
ter their relationship was common
the world, a perfect match for the
knowledge, they married. It was a big
Paula
time being, but that was without takcelebration with a reception at the
Marckx
ing Pascale into consideration. She
main square of Antwerp.
European
took her entire young life in her own
This could have been ‘Hello, Mrs.
Correspondent
hands, not planning what she wanted
Jambers’, ‘Good-bye, Pascale Naesthe future to bring her, just having an
sens’. However, I may be mistaken
open mind and a deep down feeling of what she
but I am almost sure, that she never would
was ready to achieve. And then go for it. It was as
simple as that.
So in walked a teenager right from the school
benches that she just left to the building of a
model casting office in Ghent, the nearest big
town to her neighborhood, to ask if they were
willing to hire her. She was focusing on a fashion modeling job on a red carpet somewhere, but
the men behind the desk looked her all over and
concluded she was too fat. This was the last thing
she expected to hear. She didn’t consider herself
fat at all, quite the contrary. But before she left,
the man mentioned she would be a perfect fit as
a picture model. Why not? It was a start. She was
on her way to conquer the globe.
It was when she was trying to lose the extra
weight that actually wasn’t there that she became interested in eating habits, the why and
the how. The seed was planted for a career that
would bring her great fame in the not too distant future. AND one that was going to affect
the lifestyle of millions of people. However, we
were are not there yet.
At one time, she even considered opening a
restaurant. She researched the necessary information and took courses, but she realized that was
not exactly what she wanted. She didn’t see herAbove: Pascale Naessens
self spending her life in the cold (matter of speakis the best-selling culinary
ing) kitchen of a first class restaurant. She wanted
author in Belgium, as well as,
to be with people where all the action took place.
an acclaimed ceramic artist
For Pascale it had to remain fun. So she went on
whose collection of kitchen
doing what she liked most, traveling the world on
tableware titled ‘Pure by
assignments - free as a bird. When she became
Pascale Naessens for Serax’
homesick for her roots, she found another job
has enjoyed considerable
international success.
where she did very well, she became a speaker at
Right: Pascale Naessens’
a Belgium TV station, where she remained for a
cookbooks are a voice for pure
couple of years.
and healthy eating. A number
And then one day she met Paul Jambers, a
of her books have already been
TV personality phenomena with his in-depth
translated into French, English,
broadcast reports, a very attractive man and
German and Chinese. She won
confirmed bachelor. Pascale’s brother worked
the Gourmand World Cookbook
Award in Paris and in Beijing.
for him, so it was only natural that their paths
15
19 NOVEMBER 2015
PHOTO COURTESY UNITAR/CIFAL
Recipe out of Natural Food
That Makes You Happy
By our own Pascale Naessens
2 salmon steaks or fillets
1 bunch of green asparagus
15 cherry tomatoes
a handful of pine nuts
cumin seeds
black pepper
salt
olive oil
dried thyme
PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.PUREPASCALE.COM
Baked salmon with a thyme
crust, tomatoes and green
asparagus
Prep time: 8 minutes
Cook time: 20 to 25 min.
Serves: 2
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Remove the bottom hard part of the asparagus. Place
the asparagus in a baking dish. Pour over a splash of olive
oil and season well with cumin seeds, black pepper and a
little salt. Add the pine nuts. Stir thoroughly, so that all the
asparagus are covered in oil.
Move the asparagus to one side of the dish. Place the
tomatoes in the middle. Season with a little salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil.
Cut the salmon fillets in pieces and place them alongside the tomatoes. Generously season the fish with thyme,
black pepper and a little salt. Drizzle with olive oil so the
thyme is covered in it. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Tip: For this recipe you can use spinach instead of
asparagus. You can cook the spinach in the oven, as described above, or, alternatively, in a pan with a little nutmeg, salt and pepper.
ly in love. Since I have known them for their entire married life
and even before, I wanted to know what part Paul played in this
success story. Pascale admitted that in the beginning, when he
was busier than she was, he looked at it as a pleasant hobby.
As long as she is happy! But when he discovered it began to
become big business, he supported her all the way. He literally
beamed.
Keeping in mind that they both are very strict about their
independence, I could not help but go back to a moment when
they made a trip by sailing a boat around the world, for professional reasons but also to be away from it all.
Wasn’t it difficult to be living that closely together during
such a long period of time? I wanted to know.
“Indeed,” she said, “we had to adapt; two captains aboard
are not always a perfect match. And there were fights.”
The two of you alone in the middle of an ocean, wasn’t there
a risk that one of you would throw the other one overboard?
“It came into my mind,” she smiled. “However, I knew that
we would come to each other’s rescue. So what was the point?
Besides I have a positive nature.”
Indeed, she has. She hasn’t changed a bit since the day I saw
her first, notwithstanding her successful furniture, ceramics,
books and a husband who still makes headlines. Not to forget
that she changed the lives and the habits of millions of people.
And as far as I can judge, we have not seen anything yet.
The CIFAL Flanders team (left to right) Jan Beyne, Ann Dekeersmaecker, Michiel Degraeve and
managing director Peter Wollaert.
CIFAL FLANDERS continued from page 13
in order to achieve three extraordinary objectives
by 2030 in all countries and for all people: end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, fix climate change.
CIFAL Flanders relies on an “Action Learning”
approach. Sustainability sector tours have been
organized in the port of Antwerp and the diamond
quarter. CIFAL also applied action learning to increase sustainability in the fashion industry and
ethical banking.
The official ceremonial and public launch of
CIFAL Flanders is scheduled for late 2016 (exact
date to be confirmed) with guest of honor Nikhil
Seth, the future Executive Director of UNITAR.
(www.unitar.org/secretary-general-appointsnikhil-seth-india-executive-director-unitar)
CIFAL Flanders – UNITAR
Antwerp-based International Action Learning
Centre for Sustainability Leadership, affiliated
with UNITAR
Phone: +32 3 338 67 20
Email: info@cifal-flanders.org
Websites: www.cifal-flanders.org | www.unitar.org