Head Judge in the Huletts Pastry Chef of the Year Awards 2012, Master Pastry Chef Patrick Moreau of Cassis Paris.
The finals of the Huletts Pastry Chef of the year Awards 2012 will be held on Monday September 10th at the South African Chefs Academy premises, Observatory, in Cape Town.
We have had entries from all over the country, and are very pleased with the overall level of talent the competition has attracted.
The finalists are; Antonino Allegra of CocoaFair, Cape Town; Andrew Green of Clico Hotel, Johannesburg; Vicky Gurovich of the Mount Nelson, Cape Town; Nathan Jacobs of the 12 Apostles, Cape Town; Lindy Pretorius of the Westcliff, Johannesburg; Ciska Rossouw of George Jardine’s at Jordan, Stellenbosch; Janine van Zyl of Cold Gold in Stellenbosch; Glen Williams of La Colombe in Cape Town; Joanita Venter of the Oyster Box in Durban; and Kirti Kamal of Boutique Boulangerie in Durban.
On Monday, under the watchful eyes of the judges; my good self, Patrick Moreau (he of Cassis Paris fame), Peter Veldsman (cookbook author and restaurateur) and Jenny Morris (TV presenter, author and all round Giggling Gourmet) they will whisk, bake, beat, temper, blend, fold, melt, whizz and pastry chef their way to excellence.
It’s a tough final. Some of the best pastry chefs in the country are represented here, and Patrick Moreau, Master Pastry Chef, has set the standard high.
Each contestant has to produce three dishes; 1. Macaroons, 2. A chocolate dish using
Joanita Venter will represent The Oyster Box, Durban.
Valrhona courverture and 3. A pastry dish containing a Lancewood product.
I’ve seen the list of ingredients that have been supplied, and gosh, I can tell you we are talking scientifically precise stuff here. In fact, the weighing and scaling is so important to the process that the chefs are meeting on Sunday for a few hours just to do that, in advance of the actual competition.
It’s been fun answering all their questions from the finalists.
My favourite one was; “What kind of cow does the cream come from?”.
I though of answering; a Moo Cow, but then I remembered the fat content would be way different if the cream was from a Jersey Cow versus a standard Friesian.
So come Monday, sleeves will be rolled up, Toques on, ovens heated and off they go.
We wish all our contestants the very best of luck on the day.
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