The fight for the best pastry

The smell of freshly baked desserts wafted in the air as the contestants breezed through various stages of baking, in what was the Indian national qualifying round for the Junior Pastry World Cup 2019, to be held in Italy.

A flurry of white coats and tall hats, the contestants adeptly prepared one dessert after the other, poring over each and every nuance, for seven rounds with a common theme of ‘flying’. Their desserts, which could more aptly be called creations, were a cornucopia of flying aliens, fairies, ‘pokemons’, chirping birds, four-feet-tall sugar and chocolate sculptures in keeping with the theme, with their vivid hues and rich layers. They presented each and every dessert to the judge, with descriptions galore on the names, ingredient details, ideation details and the relation with the theme

Titled the Junior Pastry Indian Cup 2018 (Second Edition), the winning team of Vandana Konidala and Kush Jadav from the Academy of Pastry Arts India, Bangalore will get to represent India at the finals in Italy. Staged during Sigep, a specialist trade fair for pastry, ice-cream, chocolate and bread-makers from around the world, ten of the world’s best teams will compete with each other for the World Cup.

“This win will give us a new image and a new identity, and from now onwards we will be known as the ‘Junior Indian Pastry Chefs’. It will add value to our identity, and at this young age, getting a personal identity is a great experience overall,” said Kush. Vandana pointed out that they will be getting right back on track with the preparations for the World Cup, to represent India at the cup with the best creations.

Co-hosted and facilitated by Bakery Review magazine, Epicure Frozen Foods & Beverages Pvt. Ltd and School for European Pastry, Mumbai, the competition was conducted at this school itself on September 29 and 30. It had four teams of two chefs each from the Rustomjee Academy for Global Careers Pvt Ltd (RAGC) in Mumbai, the Academy of Pastry Arts India in Gurgaon and the Academy of Pastry Arts India, Bangalore and the White Caps International School of Pastry, Bangalore

The icing on the cake, which could be the ultimate Junior Pastry World Cup 2019 to be held in Italy on January 19 and 20 would see an Indian flag hoisted along with the other countries for the second time, hopefully paving the way for a sumptuous journey ahead for pastry chefs.

Global standards

Despite the cacophony of myriad equipment like deep freezers, ovens, mixers, spray guns and trays at work, the junior chefs maintained their work-stations squeaky clean, indicative of the global standards they were complying with. They were judged on the basis of artistic representation, technical skills, flavour and texture.

These artistic and intricate creations were pricked and prodded by a star-studded jury, who tried to gauge the texture, layers, and other nuances, while tasting and sharing opinions with one another. Some of these judges included Chef Kainaz Messman Harchandrai, founder of Theobroma, Chef Ajay Chopra, ‘Chefprenuer’/Consultant, Vimal Sharma, Founder and ‘Chief Evangelist’ at Bliss Chocolates, Chef Vikas Bagul, Director at School for European Pastry, and Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, author and food teacher.

Sanjay Anand, director at Bakery Review magazine, said that the Junior Pastry Indian Cup was started in India in 2016, after he mooted the possibility of India’s representation to the organisers of Sigep, where his company was a media partner. Calling Sigep the ‘Olympics of pastry making’, he said he was disappointed that though he was part of the jury during the 2015 fair, there was no representation of Indian pastry chefs at all.

“There has to be one platform for the baking and pastry-making industry also in India. We have to specifically work to bolster the baking and pastry making industry in India, instead of being content with just separate academies for pastries within the country. We have to look at it from a macro level and have to collectively come under one umbrella from a global perspective too…We have to let the world know that apart from being proficient at making Indian sweets like jalebi and gulab jamun , we are good at making pastries too,” he said.

Starting young

Anand pointed out that the baking industry in India remains obscure despite its indispensability for Indians, right from the first meal of breakfast, abundant with breads, biscuits and what not. He also pointed out how the pastry chefs in India aren’t accorded the kind of recognition they deserve, despite the proliferation of patisseries across major cities, and that this was also an “impetus to tell the young generation that a pastry chef is a potential career to opt for”. He emphasised the importance of starting off at a young age by training under senior pastry chefs, which the contestants in this competition were given an opportunity to.

Chef Vikas Gupta said, “This competition is a great way to put yourself forward in the baking and pastry-making industry, as when you are as young as 20 or so, you get a chance to represent the country at a global level and be recognised by the industry people. To also represent the country in the pastry arena, which is not recognised as such right now, would be a good opportunity for the youngsters and will help in casting their career for the rest of their lives.”

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