RIMINI, Italy – Internationality will be the most outstanding aspect of the next SIGEP (20-24 January 2018, Fiera di Rimini). World guiding light for the artisan gelato and pastry sectors, the great expo organized by Italian Exhibition Group expo – Italy’s most important exhibition & convention provider, founded with merger between Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza – now at its 39th edition, will have an even more global profile, thanks also to a great program of championships and events. In the pastry sector, the Pastry Events continue to take form and add even more prestigious appointments.
The authoritative words of master pastry chef Iginio Massari stress the importance and value of the events programmed, international and Italian competitions that SIGEP has been committed to promoting for years.
Maestro Iginio Massari states, “What happens at SIGEP a challenge with oneself and with highly skilled national and international colleagues. It’s an on-going stimulus to improve. In short, I believe that this is the great value of the contests promoted by SIGEP: they manage to stimulate and drive the entire professional category towards perfection. Participating in such prestigious contests means being committed to the utmost to eliminating one’s faults, learning to face and control emotions, without ever losing sight of the time factor. It is not sufficient to be technically perfect – it’s necessary to do so in the time at your disposal. In the end the victory won is not just a victory of an individual contestant or a team, but of the entire country of origin. In fact, to my fellow countrymen and women that are competing, I always repeat that they have the opportunity of making the whole of Italy win.”
Pastry Queen 2018: 12 Lady Pastry Cooks from all over the world competing for the title
First and foremost the eagerly awaited return of the Ladies World Pastry Championship (22nd and 23rd January). Now at its 4th edition. The Championship will bring together 12 of the best lady pastry cooks from all over the world. Competing for the title of Pastry Queen this year, they are arriving from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, France, Japan, India, Morocco, Mexico, Russia, Thailand and the USA.
The young contestants will have to undergo the judgment of a panel made up of the 12 teams’ trainers. The championship was conceived by its President Maestro Roberto Rinaldini and its honorary President is Maestro Iginio Massari.
Silvia Boldetti, President of the Jury and current Champion, confirms, “The great value of the competition is in the preparatory work, which climaxes in the performance on contest days. During the year’s preparation, I put myself to the test and had the opportunity of learning a lot, gaining a great deal of professional maturity. It was precisely this long period that provided me a solid foundation for facing the Championship in the best possible way. A second, fundamental value is precisely the focus on ladies, because it helps them to convince themselves first of all that they are capable of doing great things. With the Pastry Queen I learnt to bring out in me the potential that had remained unexpressed until then: great concentration, determination and firmness, investing a lot of energy. The real ingredient is preparation, along with the determination and the control of one’s emotions.”
Master pastry chef Roberto Rinaldini states, “The Pastry Queen is the world’s only competition that gives visibility and opportunities to ladies, highlighting their professionalism. This is why the contestants have risen from 10 to 12 and for years in France and India national selections have been held, and this year will be extended to the Philippines. Worldwide, 55% of the students in pastry training schools are ladies, but unfortunately only 35% manage to enter a pastry workshop permanently. This is why becoming Pastry Queen is the dream of all those girls who, beginning from the sector’s schools, understand that being excellent pastry cooks is at the basis of success.”
Italian Senior Pastry Championship: The Top players are competing
For Italian-made pastry, on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st there will be the prestigious Italian Senior Confectionery Championship, promoted by SIGEP and Conpait, which will feature 17 contestants, from all over the peninsula, and 3 different specialities: a pièce in chocolate and plated dessert, a pièce in sugar and chocolate cake, a pièce in ice and gelato cake.
Competing for the victory will be: for the ice test, Roberto Rinaldini, Andrea Restuccia, Luca Bernardini, Domenico Di Clemente and Valerio Vullo; in the sugar category, Davide Malizia, Alessandro Petito, Marco Tateo, Alessandro Comaschi, Lorenzo Puca, Roberto Miranti, Alessandro Bertuzzi and Michele Zeolla and, in the chocolate section, Massimo Carnio, Sebastiano Vinciguerra, Mattia Cortinovis and Carmelo Sciampagna.
The three winners of each category will form the team that will represent Italy at the Coupe du Monde in Lyon in 2019.
Alessandro Dalmasso, Chairman of the Club Coupe du Monde Italian section and Jury President, comments, “This is an extremely valuable contest – for a professional pastry chef having the opportunity of taking part in this competition is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious acknowledgments of his career. Having the courage to put oneself and the skills built up through time to the test is a great sign of professionalism. The Italian Senior Pastry Championship is an excellent stimulus for continual growth, not only of a personal nature, but also collectively speaking, because it is a question of team work.”
Italian Junior Pastry Championship: Three tests on the theme “Stars And Legends”
An exceptional opportunity to highlight young national pastry art talents is also offered by the Italian Junior Pastry and Chocolate Championship, promoted by Conpait and SIGEP, in collaboration with the AMPI, scheduled for Saturday 20th January. Pastry’s promising newcomers will have to compete in three tests on the theme “Stars and legends”: artistic pièce in sugar and chocolate, modern chocolate and hazelnut cake and an individual portion of tiramisù. The winner will represent Italy at the 2019 Junior World Pastry Championship in Rimini.
Specialist Training at Sigep
Another key word at SIGEP 2018 will be professional training, always a fundamental element of the SIGEP universe and whose presence will be further strengthened.
Twelve training schools from all over Italy – from Venice to Pescara, will compete on Wednesday 24th January in an exciting new, pastry competition in the shrine of the sector’s Championships, the Pastry Arena. The contest, which is part of the SIGEP Young program, foresees the realization of a pièce in sugar or chocolate, at least 60 cm. high, which must support a layer cake and a contain a brittle, crunchy and creamy base. As well as this, the competing pupils will have to prepare six individual portions of the same flavour, which will be judged by a panel of professionals presided by master pastry chef Eliseo Tonti.
Sigep Young: An Expo for meeting, learning, growing
There’s a new appointment with SIGEP Young, the great possibility for students, accompanied by their teachers, to come into contact with the work world, thanks to the possibility of courses with important companies during the expo.
Coordinator Samuele Calzari states, “The SIGEP Young project is always able to stimulate active willingness on behalf of important companies and the proactive participation of students and teachers. The new pastry contest also immediately turned out to be an important opportunity for networking and professional growth for the schools: Numerous applications arrived and in just four days we reached the maximum number. “In a period of crisis, you’re either distinguished or extinguished.” This is the phrase Master pastry chef Alessandro di Carlo said to the students taking part in the project and since then it has been my personal warning and the phrase that best sums up the essence of SIGEP Young and the new contest: an excellent opportunity for professional growth, specialization and in-depth work knowledge.”
Focus on Sigep 2018
Dates: 20 – 24 January 2018; Organizers: Italian Exhibition Group SpA; edition: 39th; frequency: annual; classification: international; admittance: trade members only; hours: 9:30 am – 6:00 pm, last day 9:30 am – 3:00 pm (3:00 – 5:00 pm only with online tickets); Italian show director: Patrizia Cecchi; group brand manager: Flavia Morelli; brand managers: Gabriella de Girolamo (gelato), Giorgia Maioli (confectionery/pastry and bakery); visitor info: +39 0541 744111; Web site: www.sigep.it – #Sigep2018
