LONDON, Jan 20 — This January 25 and 26, at the food trade show Sirha in Lyon, France, elite pastry chefs from around the globe will compete in the Pastry World Cup. France, which was led to victory in 2013 by Quentin Bailly, will not be in the running for an additional title this year, but Bailly will be a member of the international jury.
Accustomed to coming in first place, including at the most recent edition in 2013, France will stay out of the arena at this year’s Pastry World Cup. While the birthplace of the éclair holds the highest all-time gold medal count in the competition, serious competition comes from the Japanese, who won the silver medal in 2013, and the Italians, who took home the bronze in the same year. And new contenders are entering the ring all the time. In 2015, the contest will welcome three newcomers: Algeria, the Philippines and Guatemala.
Like the more experienced nations competing, each of these first-timers will be represented by a team consisting of three chefs: one specialising in pastries, one in chocolate and one in ice-cream. More than ever before, the jury will scrutinise each candidate’s technical skills. An additional challenge has been added to the event this year: participants will have to add a sculpted block of solid Valrhona chocolate to their creations.
All in all, each team of elite chefs will spend 10 hours producing one showpiece from sugar, another from chocolate and one from sculpted hydric ice, as well as three chocolate desserts, three frozen desserts with fruit and an array of 12 other desserts. The candidates’ entries will be evaluated based on taste, artistic presentation and coherence with the theme. — AFP-Relaxnews
