Eastern Europe
Mariusz Buritta won Eastern Europe Chocolate Master 2011!
Exhausting preparations, a tiring journey, stress, tears, and
finally the eruption
of incredible joy - emotions ran high during this year's
pre-selection for the
World Chocolate Masters 2011 finals. The audience was delighted,
the contestants stood up to the task, and the organizers,
having ensured that the competition went as planned,
were finally able to relax.
The pre-selection took place on 23 February
2011 during the Expo Sweet fair in
Warsaw. This extremely fierce and exciting contest was won
by Mariusz Buritta from the Sowa Patisserie form
Bydgoszcz, Poland. As the winner of the Eastern
Europe Chocolate Master title, he will represent our region at the
finals in Paris in October 2011. Along with the representatives of
20 countries he will be competing for the title of the
World Chocolate Master 2011. Apart from the title,
Mariusz Buritta also won a prize awarded by
representatives of the trade press.
Second place was awarded to Peter
Ďuraj from the Alpha Chocolate DP confectionery, Slovakia
while third place went to Gamze
Baş from the "Lola’s Luxury Chocolates"
confectionery in Ankara, Turkey, who was also recognized for
creating the best dipped praline.
Along with above mentioned candidates, the competition was attended
by: Anda Calinici from Romania,
Hakan Dogan from Turkey and
Katarzyna Szulczewska from
Poland.
The contestants were given less than eight hours to create a
moulded praline, a dipped praline, a chocolate cake and a chocolate
showpiece. The theme of the chocolate creations was "Cocoa,
Quetzalcoatl's Gift". The task of the participants was to recreate
the mood, the aromas and flavours characteristic of South America,
the place from which cocoa originated.
This was the third pre-selection attended by representatives from
Poland, while it was the first time for the equally talented
chocolate craftsmen from the rest of the countries mentioned.
Although the contestants came from different countries and
different cultures, the competition was dominated by the spirit of
cooperation. Owing to this the contest was a wonderful experience
for the participants themselves, the jury, the organizers and the
audience.
The competition was deftly led by Karol Okrasa, a figure well-known
in the Polish media, whose characteristic ease of expression drew
the attention of the visitors to the fair. After such an exciting
pre-selection competition, we are looking forward to an equally
interesting final in Paris. Let's keep our fingers crossed
for Mariusz!
