Montreal, January 21, 2023 – While the World Cup is a benchmark for soccer players, pastry chefs have one too: The World Pastry Cup, an international event that represents all aspects of the professions from ice cream to chocolate making. It had been 15 years since Canada was last represented at the Olympics of the pastry world. After ranking in 5th position at the continental semi-finals in Santiago (Chile), the team was awarded a “wild card” from the jury to secure their place at the finals in Lyon (France).
Today, they made us proud. After training only a few short months together, team Canada composed of Chef Patrick Bouilly (our national sugar expert), Chef Jacob Pelletier (our national chocolate guru) and Chef Ross Baisas (Canada’s ice master) ranked 10th in their battle against 19 other teams from around the globe. The ten-hour competition includes a series of drills tackling all fields of the pastry art including three artistic creations (a chocolate sculpture, a sugar piece as well as an ice sculpture) and a slew of tasting courses including three chocolate desserts made with Valrhona chocolate, three frozen desserts with fruit purée, 26 frozen lollipops and 10 restaurant style desserts.
Under the theme of climate change, Team Canada won the Eco-Responsibility Award for their commitment to environmentally conscious practices.
“No matter what the score board says, Canada was victorious in many ways today,” explains team President Chef Daniel Garcia. “They were fearless and determined but thankful for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. The team only trained for a few months with very little time to perfect their recipes. They joined forces without hesitation to take on the best of the best in this grueling test of competency. And, in true Canadian spirit, some of the country’s top pastry stars including Chef Nadege Nourian (Nadege Toronto), Chef Rodney Aldate (Goûter Toronto), Chef Patrice Demers (Patrice Pâtissier) and Chef Christophe Bonzon (Chez Christophe), jumped in action to help by providing advice, landing equipment and molds and by tapping into their resources to make this happen for our country. Equipped with this experience, the world better watch out for Team Canada 2024!”
“The breakneck pace was definitely exhilarating,” concludes Chef Jacob Pelletier. “Seeing the level of competition here was a tremendous opportunity to push myself beyond my comfort zone and it definitely made me a better pastry chef. We made our country proud today but it’s only the first step towards a new beginning for pastry chefs in Canada. I encourage bakers to throw their hat in the rink to be part of the next team! We need to be here every year… it’s good for our profession, our industry and it shines a bright light onto Canada.”
ABOUT THE COMPETITION
The competition was created by the legendary Chef Gabriel Paillasson over 30 years ago. Currently chaired by Pierre Hermé, it brings together teams from all over the world, to first compete on one of the five continents to win their spot amongst the best of the best in Lyon (France) every two years.
ABOUT CHEFS CANADA
Devoted to inspiring culinary excellence, CHEFS CANADA has a mission to promote Canadian cuisine, terroir, producers, ingredients and products here at home as well as abroad, doing our part to create a sustainable and profitable culinary scene. Strong of a network that counts some of the country’s best chefs and top industry professionals, CHEFS CANADA works to shine the spotlight on our industry in order to further define and promote our cuisine through global competitions and partnerships. The organization is strongly rooted in their desire to unite, share and transmit our mutual expertise, techniques and savoir-faire amongst Canadian chefs but also with the next generation, creating a demand and standard for Canadian gastronomy on the world stage.
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Click here for photos of Team Canada and the dishes at the competition.
To schedule an interview with The World Pastry Cup Team Canada, to get more information or high-res images, please contact The PR Department Inc. at 416-535-3939 or at [email protected]
