The World Pastry Cup, Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie crowned its winners: Japan won gold, the silver medal went to France, and Malaysia earned bronze, with a special eco-responsible award going to team Belgium.
After rounds of national selections followed by continental competitions, the Grand Finale of the Pastry World Cup was held between January 24 and 25 during SIRHA Lyon, with 18 teams in the competition. The theme of this year’s creations was ‘national heritage’, to highlight culture and national identity concepts. “Each creation must tell a story: one of a country, its traditions, and the soul of its people,” the organizers described. The competing teams had to prepare four categories of creations, frozen desserts, restaurant desserts, show chocolate, and sugar artistic creations.
The winning team’s members are: Masanaori Hata (chocolate candidate), Yuji Matoba (sugar candidate) and Ryu Miyazaki (ice candidate). Team Japan’s winning menu for the Grand Finale comprised:
- Frozen dessert: Koma – Spinning Top: A dessert, primarily made with apricots, flavored with yuzu. It was inspired by the traditional Japanese spinning top, or ‘koma’, evoking playful childhood memories.
- Restaurant dessert: Miyabi – Elegance: A delicate dessert incorporating the traditional Asanoha (hemp leaf) pattern, a symbol of Japanese beauty. It symbolized the essence of the kanji MIYABI.
- Show Chocolat: Matsuri – Festival: an interpretation of a traditional Japanese confection, transformed into a Western-style dessert using ingredients that represent the essence of Japan. The monaka (Mochi wafer) shell is made of rice.
- Three sculptures, one made of chocolate, one made of sugar, and one ice sculpture.
Photos: Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie LinkedIn