Junior Chocolate Masters 2023 - Meet the Competitors
Junior Chocolate Masters 2023 - Meet the Competitors
Our Junior Chocolate Masters 2023 Final is just around the corner and we wanted to introduce you to our finalists.
This year the competition takes place on 27th July 2023 at the UK & Ireland Chocolate Academy in Banbury.
This years theme is...The Changing World đ â
The world is under pressure to change to survive. Environmental issues and food manufacturing processes are under scrutiny to improve and evolve to keep our planet going. Health is a top requirement for customers, people want healthy ingredients that give nutritional boosts to food and snacks. Individual choice is important and customers want vegan and free-from options.â
The world needs our help to survive, sustainability and ethical food choices are vital to the changing world. Chocolate is a special ingredient that has always inspired creation and mystique, the mission is to use chocolate to help change the world.â
We're excited to introduce you to one of our Finalists - James Robinson, demi chef de partie at the Grove Hotel.
1. Where did it all start? How did you fall in love with cooking, pastry and chocolate?
Some of my first and most cherished memories from childhood are in the respective kitchens of my grandparents and watching, helping (probably hindering), and tasting (the best bit).
Iâm sure, like many others, they can remember being handed the spoon by their Nan, to eat the batter and ending up covered in cake mix or the excitement, waiting for cakes to come out the oven and cool just enough so we were allowed to eat them. The nostalgic feeling from childhood of the smell of cakes in the oven, licking the bowl clean and food bringing family together fills me with joy. I didnât always believe I wanted to be a pastry chef however, it is only upon reflection now I realise these childhood memories have a fond place and could be one of the reasons I became a pastry chef. If we fast forward a fair few years to secondary school this was when I decided I wanted to be a pastry chef,
My school at the time ran a Duke of Edinburgh award program which I participated in, as part of the programme you had to do a skills activity for 6 months and I decided to do baking I made all sorts of things from your traditional cottage loaf to an Oreo chocolate cake , upon reflection none of the things I made looked or tasted very good but it gave me enough of a passion to decide I wanted to do this forever, I then went on to take food tech as a gcse and while looking for post 16 options discovered the Claire Clark academy for patisserie excellence in Milton Keynes I took a tour of the facility and fell in love in that moment I decided this was my next step to get to my dream of being a pastry chef. I studied at the Claire Clark Clark academy for 2 years I learnt a lot from an amazing lecturer Andrea ruff who showed us plated desserts, bread, puff pastry, sugar work and chocolate work just to name a few, cuoisidently when doing the chocolate unit I decided I hated chocolate work and was never going to do it again I see the irony in that statement now. While at the Claire Clark academy I did work experience at flourish bakery where I learnt about Viennoiserie production and cakes and when it came my time to leave college I was unsure on where I wanted to go we were in a very confusing time with lockdown due to Covid and was unsure what to do until I stumbled across Ryan Thompsons post on instagram looking for people to work at the grove, Ryan hired me straight out of college and I have been working at the grove for almost 2 years now in the two years I have worked in a few different areas including afternoon tea and the chocolate room.
2. What or who is your greatest source of inspiration ?
I spend a lot of time on my phone just scrolling through social media like most people now, and I think that social media is my biggest influence you can get so many ideas from other chefs and bakers on social media, someone once told me âyou can never run out of ideas with so much inspiration at the click of a buttonâ, and I think itâs true itâs hard to not find something you are looking for on social media now and 9/10 you can find thing you couldnât even think of.
3. What has been your favourite culinary creation so far?
I have a few favourite culinary creations.
My favourite petit gateau was from last year in the summer it was an lavender, grove honey and apricot roulade, I think the thing that made me love this dessert so much was being able to use estate grown products it contained lavender grown in the walled garden at the grove and honey from the estate gardens harvested at the peak of spring giving it intense floral notes from the abundance of surrounding plants and wildlife which complemented the lavender.
My favourite creation may also be my most Challenging, from last year Halloween I made a witch themed chocolate sculpture ,I think it was my favourite because I learnt a lot by making that sculpture and learning lessons means improvement and growth, which is exciting for the future.
4. What motivated you to enter the Junior Chocolate Masters competition?
Someone sent me a link to the post on Instagram when it was released for entries and I debated for a while whether I wanted to enter or not and then last minute work sent a few of us to SIRHA to watch the Coupe de la Monde, we got to see some amazing creations from all over the world and watch some extremely talented chefs working, the whole atmosphere of the event was exciting and I left with more inspiration and a decision that I would enter junior chocolate masters.
5. What does the theme âThe Changing Worldâ evoke to you?
The theme 'A Changing World' excites me as there is an abundance of problems in this world that require change and activism. itâs interesting to make art and how something as simple as chocolate can fabricate an amazing story just by looking at it. It is my belief that we have one planet. one shot to do this right. All eyes are on the world leaders and communities to fight the problems that we have caused by neglecting our environment and the time is now to band together before it becomes too late .
6. How are you preparing for the competition?
Currently I am refining my idea for the final before I try and build it but in the meantime I have been doing some large chocolate pieces for work to keep practicing my skills.
7. What is your favourite chocolate? Why?
My favourite chocolate to eat is Cacao Barry Zephyr Gold , I used to hate white chocolate and still itâs not my favourite but I love how this chocolate tastes so much more complex by caramelising it and I think it has that nostalgic feeling of reminding me of things from my childhood.
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