MONTREAL, Canada – 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 Chili, 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 included 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 chocolates, 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 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 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!”
