PastryCon 2024 | #PodSaveChocolate Ep62

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Episode 62 Overview

For most of us, the idea of cooking competitions is not new. From the Bocuse d’Or to Chopped to Top Chef and more, culinary competitions – and the celebrity chefs that judge and have emerged from them – are deeply embedded in the fabric of our social media zeitgeist.

But the idea of pastry and baking competitions – serious chocolate, pastry, and baking competitions – is less well-known outside the world of confectionery, pastry, and baking. But they are a thing, often gathering hundreds of spectators who watch live (and cheer on the team/s and/or chef/s they support) – not to mention millions who watch after the fact on streaming video platforms.

The Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie, held in Lyon alongside the Bocuse d’Or is the longest-running of the major international competitions. Similar competitions include the World Chocolate Masters.

Here in the US, the National Pastry Team Championships (organized by a team that included the publishers of Pastry Art and Design magazine) were first held in Beaver Creek, CO in 2000. This competition featured twelve teams from around the United States. From 2003 on, the winner of the National Championship would represent the US in the World Championship the following year.

The first edition of the World Pastry Team Championships was held in 2004 in Las Vegas, featuring teams from twelve countries – Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Switzerland, and the USA (which won that year).

I was on staff for the National and World Pastry Team Championships and the accompanying World Pastry Forum from 2003 – 2011 in Las Vegas, Nashville, and Scottsdale. The influence on my career from participating in these events in profound. I learned a lot about chocolate, pastry, and baking, from MOFs and other talented practitioners acting as judges, educators, and contestants.

After disbanding after a 2012 edition back in Las Vegas, while the USA continues to field a team to compete in the Coupe du Monde, there has been no multi-day, multi-category competition that stepped in to fill the void. PastryCon #24 could be the first!

This episode will be all about the 2024 National Pastry Conference with Justin Fry (President) and Ryan Stipp (VP). Topics to be covered include the format of the three-day event, including the competition categories, how the competition will be conducted, who will be competing, and introductions to the Chef Advisors for the event. (I know two of the seven Chef Advisors – Kriss Harvey, who I first met at a World Pastry Forum, and Michael Laiskonis, who I first met in NYC while he was the Exec PC at Le Bernardin.)

I am super-excited for this event and realize the inaugural year has its own set of challenges. Should it be as successful as many of us hope it will be, I am stoked for its future and how it will grow and expand and influence future generations of confectionery, pastry, and baking professionals and amateur/enthusiasts.

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