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PASTRY SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION
2008 Saturday & Sunday,
May 17 & 18, 2008 The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas is a statewide non-profit 501(c)3 charity with the mission of education and research in the culinary and viticulture arts. Culinary scholarships are one of the many innovative ways through which the Foundation accomplishes its mission and helps to develop Texas’ culinary future.
The first annual Pastry Competition will be held May 17 and 18 at Texas Culinary Academy. Students are solicited from culinary schools throughout the state for participation. They will be asked to complete an application, write an essay, provide two letters of recommendation and create four different recipes, according to contest guidelines. The 2008 guidelines require applicants to submit recipes for each of the following, using a pre-determined ‘basket’ of ingredients: 1) Composed Dessert 2) Traditional Texas dessert 3) Standard Technique Dessert 4) Mignardise Plate The competition consists of three tiers, with the preliminary round being a panel of Foundation judges who will screen all the applications to determine the top ten candidates. Those ten applications will be sent to Chef Mark Chapman who will then review and select his top three for the final competition. The competition will be held Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18 at the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin. Students will prepare their recipes from noon until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday under supervision of a proctor. Sunday, cooking begins at 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., with a half-hour break for lunch, then cooking and plating beginning at 1:00 p.m. The final judging will be blind, and executed by four culinary professionals (different judges from the first round) who shall remain anonymous until after the competition. Contestants will be judged on taste, texture, originality, plating and professionalism. A grand prize of a $5,000.00 scholarship will be awarded to the winner of the competition, with the two finalists receiving $1,000.00 each. Awards will be presented immediately following the competition. The competition is Chaired by Paris Cordon-Bleu trained chefs Quincy Adams Erickson and Aimee Olsen.
TIMES: Pricing: N/A closed to the public Press Conference open to public at 2:45 p.m.Applications and Pantry Items: |
The 2008 First Annual Pastry Competition is named for Austin Pastry
Chef Mark Chapman, who created a legacy in Austin over the past decade
with the last four years at the prestigious Driskill Hotel. Chapman
graduated Magna Cum Laude from Johnson and Wales University in Charleston,
South Carolina, with a specialty in chocolate and sugar work. Soon
after, he acquired an internship in New York City, studying under
pastry chef Jacques Torres at the highly regarded Le Cirque. Named
one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in the country by Pastry Art & Design
Magazine, Chapman is now out on his own, with a sexy, hip new dessert
concept restaurant named "Cookie Lounge" featuring
custom cookie designs and other delectable sweets.