6 Nov 2016
A worldwide selection process
The selection process involves more than fifty national rounds and four continental selection events in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Last September the Belgian selection event was organised in Gosselies with a special theme, Super Heroes. After 6 hours and the preparation of two desserts and one artistic piece (chocolate or sugar), the jury selected three patisserie confectioners to represent Belgium during the Europe Cup. Among them, David Redon, International Technical Advisor in Patisserie at Puratos.
Together they joined the Club Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie Belgique lead by Arnaud Szalies to prepare the continental selection.
The trials required expert knowledge of two disciplines: chocolate and sugar. Additionally one rule stipulates that at least one team member should have the Belgian nationality for a team to represent a country.
Among the team two French citizens with distinct expertise (chocolate & sugar) led to David having to step down for the Europe Cup.
“This was not an easy decision to take. However we knew it was our only chance to fully meet the competition’s rules and allow us to represent Belgium. I accepted the challenge and took on the role of investing the competition out of sight, under cover.”
Preparation for the event
The European selection for the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie was very thoroughly orchestrated and clear expectations were set for the team. Candidates had five hours to make the following creations :
- 2 frozen fruit entremets
- 10 plate served desserts including chocolate
- 1 sugar artistic creation
- 1 artistic chocolate creation
This implied a lot of preparation during free time for each team member.
“There are many steps that lead to the perfect dessert. Sketching, deciding which ingredients’ combination will lead to the best taste association and visual final result,… are the first steps to create a patisserie concept. The most time-consuming is the rehearsing to optimize at best the technique and train others to repeat the gestures for the same final result”
The pastry chefs distinguished themselves by both their talent and their mastery of chocolate and sugar disciplines.
“I am very proud of how both my team colleagues worked in Geneva. The vision of taking part in the World cup is what drove me to invest myself so much in preparing and working for this event. I can’t wait to start preparing for the World Cup in 2017”
I can’t wait to start preparing for the World Cup in 2017
David Redon, International Technical Advisor in Patisserie
David travels around the globe to help our customers create innovating recipes, train new demonstrators and lead seminars. His chosen field is the use of chocolate and praline to create refined patisserie creations which is why he is responsible for promoting our chocolate and praline range in Patisserie.
Throughout his personal involvement and investment to prepare this competition, we are proud to see how well he has represented our Puratos Values. In addition to the quality of his work during the numerous evenings and weekend he spent refining the desserts the Belgian team was to propose this January, he demonstrated Passion, team spirit and courage along with the vision of representing Belgium in 2017!
In name of all Puratos employees we congratulate him for his work and wish the Club Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie Belgique all the best with the preparation of the 2017 trials!
