‘Ladies and gentlemen, Taiwan has finished on time.’, eagerly announces the host, as even more enthusiasm fills the space with screaming supporters. Jumping fans are waving flags, and chanting their country’s name. Immersed in the hustle and bustle, you can’t help but join in on all the contagious (and delicious) excitement. No, it is not a sports match, nor is it the Eurovision song contest – it is Sirha Europain food trade fair in Paris that held international baking and pastry cups.

The European Pastry Cup at Sirha Europain

A European pastry cup most recently marked a fateful day for three teams: the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. Competing to make it to the Grand Finale, the pastry chefs of each team worked tirelessly for five hours to create show-stopping masterpieces. The three challenges consisted of a frozen dessert, frozen lollipops, a restaurant dessert, and a sculpture no higher than 145cm. Points are awarded for the desserts, hygiene, teamwork, skill and good organisation. 

As soon as the pastry competition begins, the pressure is on. Contestants speedily prepare their creations with lightning-like accuracy. With the clock ticking, and so many peering eyes, anyone would feel under pressure. Yet, the pastry chefs demonstrate exceptional discipline and respect for the craft while delivering some amazing results.

Judging the competition as an honorary president was the famous pastry chef, François Perret, who was voted Best Restaurant Pastry Chef in 2019. Perret is also the protagonist in the hit series The Chef in a Truck on Netflix.

Creativity and a Dash of Pressure

Firstly, the frozen dessert challenge takes place. For the 2022 competition, Sweden took the inspiration of the natural forces of the wind and sea for both the frozen dessert and the sculpture. The art piece offered a stunning balance of the marvels of nature and sophistication with bitter blood orange flavour and covered in pistachio sorbet, topped with honey gelato and grapefruit peel.

Next up was the UK, presenting a tropical cake with mango sorbet, yoghurt ice cream, mango tea ice cream, mango coulis, and pistachio meringue. The judges described the frozen dessert as tender and fresh, yet sour. Third up was Denmark offering traditional Danish flavours with a twist. The frozen dessert consisted of fresh cherry sorbet, cherry jelly, and Danish honey ice cream with a caramelised quinoa and buckwheat base. Moreover, creamy yuzu ice cream was the unexpected addition, thus taking the cake to another level.

The second round of the Sirha Europain food trade fair European Pastry cup was bite-sized frozen lollipops. The teams had to craft immaculate and flavoursome creations that will leave the judges wanting more. Sweden unveiled a floral design on a chocolate-coated stick. With a sweet and sour taste, the frozen lollipop consisted of ginger, shiso, sour apple, and caramel, and was topped with yoghurt gelato.

Team UK’s take on the bite-sized dessert was a strawberry meringue butterfly with blackcurrant jelly and red fruit tea ice cream sandwiched in the middle. The lollipop offered a wholesome balance of flavour and texture and proved to be a hit for the judges. Finally, Denmark presented a refreshing, fun creation with a (literal) twist. The cool and refreshing feel of buttermilk and sour cream gelato was complimented by strawberry and black pepper sorbet with a crispy tuile base.

Commenting upon the frozen lollipops, pastry chef François Perret, expressed that, ‘it’s hard to judge just from one or two bites, but it’s a great way to receive texture and the flavour all at once.’

The final and most anticipated round was the restaurant dessert. Team Sweden pulled out all the stops with a wholesome selection of varying elements: hot, cold, baked, crunchy, sour, sweet, and salty. With a base of herb chocolate, the artistic dessert was described as ‘the finale and the peak’ of the experience. The said artistic creation was glazed with dark chocolate mousse and salty brown-butter caramel, a baked choux filled with almond cream and pistachios in caramel sauce that was topped with yoghurt sorbet.

Team UK delivered a balancing act: the dessert was enriched with jasmine ice cream, complemented by mango compote and the flavours of coconut mousse, lime, and madeleine biscuit. The combination of all the flavours was positively welcomed by the jurors and received some uplifting feedback.

And thirdly, Team Denmark took us to the amusement park with a Ferris wheel inspired restaurant dessert. The creation took on flavours of passionfruit, citrus fruits, and chocolate over a crispy pie base and went out with a bang.

There is no doubt that all teams put in a tremendous amount of effort into all of the masterpieces produced during the five hours. After some tough deliberation, the jurors awarded Team Denmark with a bronze medal and Team Sweden took the silver medal. Team UK were the victors of the day, taking the gold medal back home. The winning pastry chefs showed immense happiness while positivity and chanting filled the room as Team UK’s name was announced. Celebrations are evident for Team UK for now, but the countdown has begun for the upcoming grand finale at Sirha Lyon World Pastry Cup event.

The Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie

Amongst all the excitement regarding the European Pastry Cup, the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (World Bakery Cup), was also held at the Sirha Europain food trade fair. The World Bakery Cup is held every two years, the competition gives visitors the opportunity to witness 11 to 12 of the best teams in the world work their magic in the bakery profession. Each team has three competitors and a coach who follows the four categories: Baguette and breads of the world, Viennoiserie, an artistic piece and the savoury baking test where the team members work together.

A highly anticipated competition for many bakery fans around the world, the World Bakery Cup began in 1992 by Christian Vabret, president of the Ecole Francaise de Boulangerie. Vabret predicted a decline in bread quality, so created the competition to allow bakers to practice the craft of artisan baking while competing against other nations. The Coupe du Monde brings people together to celebrate their passion, knowledge, and the value of the artisan baking profession. However, the celebrated event comes with immense pressure, as the first, second and third place in each competition are automatically guaranteed qualification for the next Coupe du Monde.

The eyes of a jury demanding excellence, professionalism and superlative presentation were noted by all competitors during this year’s baking competition. Makarios Papadopoulos, chocolate craftsman and pastry chef at Thelassonique in Greece, was the President of the 2022 World Bakery Cup Jury. The jury members were all from different countries than the competing nations, including judges from Belgium, Canada, the USA, Finland, Peru, and Cambodia. Each jury member was given the extremely difficult task of choosing a winner out of the incredible performance of the 11 competing teams.

The Competition Heats Up

The first day saw France, Egypt and Denmark stepping up to start the competition. The candidates all produced high-quality bread, pastries and fascinating artwork, leading to increased pressure on the remaining teams. Day two followed with the determined teams: Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, the Netherlands, and South Korea all following the same categories as the day before. The competition was in full swing, continuing onto the third day with Senegal, Norway, Costa Rica, and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), bringing exceptional production.

As expected, the talent was unmatched during the baking competition. Each year, the art piece category is a firm favourite for many. The category allows for an aesthetic expression of the nation’s culture, all sharing a mutual theme. Impressive results were produced by each team. Following this year’s theme of ‘Love,’ each artistic representation truly stunned the crowds and judges.

A show-stopping piece was produced by Team Taiwan, with team member, Hsu Shao-Huan taking on the artistic test with a highly skilled tribute to Beauty and the Beast. Like one would imagine seeing at an art gallery, the spectacular creations sat like sophisticated sculptures, making it difficult to believe that this was real food.

An exceptional reception for an exceptional competition was found at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie this year. Visitors travelled from around the world, while colours flooded the crowds who stood in unity, waving flags and signs in support of their country.  The cheers in the crowds saw intense concentration from each competitor, all baking to bring their country to success.

World Champions at the Sirha Europain

With the worldly visitors and competitors hungry to find out the results, the excellence was consecrated after the three days of trials. Silence flooded the crowds which quickly turned into roars of excitement as the judges announced Taiwan to be the winners of the 2022 Bakery World Cup. The Netherlands and Norway followed in second and third place, however, all countries were worthy of praise and representation of their profession.

Hugging and shedding tears of joy, Taiwan’s team of three bakers and their coach were overwhelmed with happiness after a successful rematch after previously coming second place in the competition. Supporters cheered, singing the national anthem of the Republic of China (Taiwan) together with the winners who held the gold trophy with pride.

The exciting event surely does not disappoint those who await the Sirha Europain food trade fair. A huge centre filled with hundreds of exhibitors, intense competitions and cheerful crowds provided an exceptional experience. For bakery and pastry fans who are hungry for more, the upcoming must-visit event will take place where visitors will celebrate the opportunity to watch some of the greatest chefs in the world join Taiwan, the Netherlands and Norway to bake for their country.

Article written by Kelsey Haslam and Kristina Galvydyte