Organised by the leading gourmet chocolate brand Cacao Barry® with the support of Callebaut® and Carma®, the Taiwan preselection for the 2014-2015 World Chocolate Masters took place at the Taipei City Vocational Development Institute. Ten participants from the confectionery and pastry sectors demonstrated their chocolate expertise and creativity during a breath-taking competition, and had their work evaluated by seven well-known professional jury members.
Displaying their creativity with chocolate and showing their take of this year’s “Inspiration from Nature” theme, each contestant customarily had to create a chocolate showpiece and a moulded praline. All new this year were the Pastry of the Day and Chocolate to Go assignments. For Pastry of the Day contestants had to create a delicious cake using fresh everyday ingredients. The Chocolate to Go assignment had participants create a whole new chocolate snack concept. At the end of this exhilarating national preselection, Chia-Feng Tsai had the honour of crowning himself Taiwan’s new Chocolate Master and will represent his nation at the Asia Pacific Selection in March 2015, which will be held at the Taipei International Bakery Show.
Chia-Feng Tsai is currently the Production Department Chef at Feeling 18°C, a delicacies shop in Taichung, Taiwan that offers handmade pralines and pastries. Chia-Feng has over 13 years of experience in pastry and came in third at the 2012 World Chocolate Masters’ Taiwan preselection. His relentless energy and passion for chocolate making led him to enter this year’s competition again. All of Chia-Feng’s assignments demonstrated a strong expression of the theme, with metaphoric references to the ‘salmon run’ and stressing the importance of returning to your roots.
The World Chocolate Masters are a distinguished international competition solely dedicated to the Art of chocolate. It welcomes the world’s most talented chocolate professionals. A total of 5 contestants (Australia, China/ Macau/ Hong Kong, Korea, India and Taiwan) will be competing in the upcoming World Chocolate Masters’ Asia Pacific preselection in March 2015. The top two winners will be invited to the 3-day World Chocolate Masters World Final in October 2015, which will be broadcasted to a live audience and covered by the world’s top media. The 2015 WCM Final will take place during the Salon Du Chocolat in Paris.
