One of those contests, described as “the Olympics of baking,” is the prestigious 2018 Masters de la Boulangerie competition. From February 3-5, 18 bakers from around the world will showcase their talents in three distinct categories.
Those categories are Nutritional Bread Making, Gourmet Baking, and Artistic Bread Making. Each category will feature six participants facing off for the title of World Master Baker in that specific category.
Team USA features two elite bakers, Jeffrey DeLeon and Jacob Baggentstos. DeLeon is the group pastry chef for Farmshop in Santa Monica, California, and will be competing in the gourmet baking specialty. Baggenstos is the pastry chef at Bakery Nouveau in Seattle, Washington, and will be competing in artistic bread making.
Here are the participants that will compete in each category:
Nutritional Bread Making
- Chung-Yu Hsieh, Taiwan
- Yoji Segawa, Japan
- Marcus Mariathas, Canada
- Peter Bienefelt, Netherlands
- Dean Tilden, Australia
- Osman Gunduz, Turkey
Gourmet Baking
- Jeffrey DeLeon, U.S.
- Yu-Chih Chen, Taiwan
- Déborah Ott, France
- Alan Dumonceaux, Canada
- Anna Gribanova, Russia
- Gaston Alejandro Mino, Argentina
Artistic Bread Making
- Yong-Joo Park, South Korea
- Peng-Chieh Wang, Taiwan
- Bin Zhou, China
- Eduardo Belttrame, Brazil
- Jacob Baggenstos, U.S.
- Santaram Maneeram, Mauritius
The 2018 Masters de la Boulangerie begins on Saturday, February 3 and ends on Tuesday, February 6 with the announcement of the winners.
Other events that will be featured at Europain include The Baker’s Lab, a life-sized bakehouse outfitted by exhibitors and partners that will feature a selection of innovative appliances and equipment. It will enable bakers to see in one location all the innovations presented at the show. Demonstrators will display techniques and creative ideas that attendees can use to boost their own production.
The Europain Forum will feature four days of exchanges and talks from qualified professionals from around the world, covering topics like new business moments in bakery, new models to create your bakery shop, new recipes with ancient wheat, how to manage allergens and diets in bakery or pastry, the ideal lab, and much more.
