The Secchia Institute for Culinary Education kitchens will host tryouts for the U.S. team in an international pastry competition — and you can watch!
Six pastry chefs — artists in chocolate and sugar work — will battle August 14 and 15 for a spot on the team, which will compete in the 2019 Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie in Lyon, France.
The chefs — each assisted by a Secchia Institute for Culinary Education student — will have four hours on August 14 and eight hours on August 15 to prepare a chocolate cake and a sugar or chocolate centerpiece. A jury composed of some of the best pastry chefs in the United States and presided over by chef Gabriel Paillasson, founder of the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie, and chef Ewald Notter, a member of the world champion 2001 U.S. team, will decide on the two pastry chefs who will be on this year’s team. They will join Victor Dagatan, who has already been selected as the ice carving artist.
The following events, all in the culinary program kitchens on August 15, are open to the public:
- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — you can watch the participants at work.
- 3-4:30 p.m. — see Dagatan create works of art from ice.
- 4:30-6 p.m. — check out the sugar and chocolate centerpiece displays in rooms 118 and 120 of the ATC.
Centerpieces will also be on display August 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In January 2019, the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie, the most prestigious pastry competition in the world, celebrates its 30th anniversary.