Budding pastry makers hone skills ahead of contest
Seven young pastry students and chefs receive training for the WorldSkills Competition.
Wang Yi makes a cake.
Making pastries, doing exercises and learning English have become a daily routine for Wang Yi over the last month. She is preparing for the 46th WorldSkills Competition, known as the Olympic Games for skilled workers. The competition is set to be held in Shanghai in 2021.
“I have confidence in myself. I believe that skills can change fate,” she said. “I hope one day I can become an executive pastry chef.”
Wang is among the seven candidates who were selected to represent Shanghai during a tryout for the national team in the patisserie and confectionery category of next year’s competition. The tryout is scheduled to be held during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, from June 25 to 27.
Wang started making pastries by following online video lessons in the summer of 2017 after she was informed of being enrolled as a pastry student at the Shanghai Business and Tourism School.
In 2012, the school signed a cooperation with the world’s leading culinary academy Le Cordon Bleu to foster budding chefs together.
“We learn how to make pastries and English as well. Now, I can basically understand what foreign teachers say. We also have the chance to study IELTS, and one of my classmates obtained 7.5 bands in the test,” she said.
Due to her talent and English background, Wang was selected as a Shanghai representative last October.
“She’s very talented, and she can read and speak English well,” said senior pastry chef Gan Wenhua, in charge of the Shanghai team. “The competition is held in English. Though translation is allowed, it will cost time and may lead to misunderstanding.”
Another key point, according to Gan, is stamina because participants are required to make a variety of pastries including cake, marzipan and sugar paste within three days.
According to Wang, she has benefited from the one-month training by developing a better awareness of work organization and food hygiene.
“It has been largely neglected by most Chinese pasty students but is counted in the total performance during the competition,” Gan said. “They have good skills. But they don’t understand the overseas dessert culture, and they are not as professional as overseas participants.”
“Actually, Japanese and South Korean pastry chefs perform better than their European counterparts in making pastries because Asian people are more hard-working,” Gan added.
At the 45th WorldSkills Competition held in Kazan, Russia, young Chinese pastry chef Zhong Lingyu won the silver for patisserie and confectionery. Han Ji-yun from South Korea won the gold, and the bronze went to Hung Yu-hsiang from China’s Taiwan.
“I hope Chinese pastry can be added to the category in the competition in the future,” Gan said.
During the training, the seven candidates are required to make sugar decorations in different sizes and styles.
The candidates are busy preparing for the competition.
