Often referred to as a “Pastry Olympics,” the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserieis a very big deal in the dessert world – truly, the icing on the cake for dessert professionals. Executive Pastry Chef Rabii Saber of Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World has been selected to be a member of the American team, which has already begun training for the event in Lyon, France in January 2017. The training is far beyond flour, sugar and eggs – think chocolate sculptures, various dessert presentation techniques, sculpted hydric ice, and much more.
Each of the team members is responsible for different portions of the competition, and Chef Saber is in charge of the chocolate artistry, tasting and recipe development.
“I am honoured to represent the United States in this prestigious dessert competition,” says Saber. “I consider chocolate art one of my strengths, and I am pleased to represent the team on this portion of the event.”
For the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie competition, the team will have to present:
- 3 chocolate desserts with Valrhona grands crus chocolates
- 3 frozen fruit desserts from the Ravifruit products
- 12 identical plated desserts
- 1 artistic creation made of sugar
- 1 artistic creation made of chocolate
- 1 artistic creation made of sculpted hydric ice
The selection process to qualify for this prestigious competition involved more than fifty national rounds and four continental selection events in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. In total, 22 teams will compete in the grand finale.
In addition to Chef Saber, the team is formed by Bill Foltz, winner of the prize for the best sugar piece in the 2011 World Cup and representing the L’Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Foltz is team captain responsible for sugar artistry and presentation artistry. The third team member is Victor Dagatan, culinary artist at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia who is in charge of ice carving and presentation artistry.
A committee of 11 people, including a team captain, coaches and various representatives will assist the team in Lyon. Robert Nieto, executive pastry chef at Kendall Jackson winery in Napa Valley, California and Nicolas Chevrieux of Maison-Kayser in New York, runner-up of the last US Pastry Competition, will be travelling to France as assistants. Roy Pell, executive pastry chef at The Phoenician in Arizona, will serve as head coach. Gilles Renusson, pastry professor at Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at Grand Rapids Community College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the President of the Club Coupe du Monde USA, which manages the team. Christophe Feyt, executive pastry chef at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, will serve as a team coach.