French baker hailed chocolate croissant world champion
AFrench baker has won the Chocolate Croissant World Cup, wowing judges with his windmill-shaped variation of the pastry with a dash of Chinese pepper and a citrus glaze. What US coffee houses market as a “chocolate croissant” is called a “pain au chocolat” in most of France, except in the southwest where bakery customers proudly order a “chocolatine”.
Dimitri Bordon, 29, on Sunday won the “Pain au chocolat/chocolatine world cup” in the southwestern city of Toulouse for his renditions of the butter-rich morning pastry laced with chocolate. He was one of 20 candidates representing 12 countries, including France but also Vietnam, Canada, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Cameroon and Ivory Coast. Each baker had to make 24 pastries - 12 traditional golden buns and the other half their own version with a twist. A jury of 18 food and beverage professionals judged the entries for quality of puff pastry, taste, texture and cooking time.
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Others were equally as creative. Vietnam contender Thuy Vien, 35, PDGH D ÁRZHU VKDSHG SDVWU\ XVLQJ bright pink dragon fruit and a yellow citrus fruit called calamansi for trimmings. Twenty-nine-year-old Guy Orsini, from &RUVLFD FUDIWHG D ERZ WLH ÀOOHG ZLWK chocolate-hazelnut paste and candied clementine cream inspired by the fruit
of his youth. In May last year, a Paris baker of Sri Lankan origin said he “cried” when he heard he had won best baguette in the French capital. 7KDUVKDQ 6HOYDUDMDK·V EDJXHWWH ZDV deemed the best among 175 anonymous contenders. — AFP