Australia

The two winners from the Asia Pacific selection and the Japan World Chocolate Master 2010 will compete in the World Finals in Paris

Taipei, 19th March 2011 – Seung Yun Lee from Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School Melbourne, Australia was crowned first place and followed by second place by Chi Hsien Cheng from Le Meridien Taipei at the inaugural World Chocolate Master Asia Pacific Selection in Taipei. Both won a full travel package to compete in the World Finals which will be held in Paris between 19th and 21st October 2011. Barry Callebaut Service Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd. has organised the competition in two segments: one for Japan and one for Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) region. As such, Japan World Chocolate Master 2010, Yoshiaki Uezaki will also be one of the three contestants representing Asia Pacific at the World Finals.

Seung Yun Lee received several awards through Barry Callebaut competitions in Australia, where she was crowned first place for the 2010 Callebaut Easter Egg Challenge and as Australia World Chocolate Master 2010.
Seung Yun Lee who is currently a pastry chef at Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School in Melbourne had majored visual communication design from Induk Institute of Technology in Seoul, Korea. Prior to becoming a pastry chef, she has always wanted to work in a capacity where she can utilise her creativity and so she began her career as a graphic designer. She was inspired to become a pastry chef through a movie called “Chocolat” and since then she has never looked back. Panel of Jury and audiences were mesmerised by her showpiece which captured the essence of the competition theme, taking us back to the origin of cocoa through her representation of an Aztec Warrior.

"My first expression of Quetzalcoatl and Aztec civilisation was Aztec warrior, Quetzalcoatl who is the Aztec feathered serpent god being represented by snake with feather and is carnivorous. So eventually I created mixture of Aztec warrior and snake with feather, a bit dark atmosphere but beautiful combination of colours in a warrior’s outfit. It was difficult to match in a showpiece so I tried to make as one. And in the middle of the showpiece, I put the cocoa pod as a symbol of Quetzalcoatl's gift and life. As a base part, I tried to deliver Aztec worriers as carnivores, so I used the white skulls, wooden texture and bark to represent them,” says Seung Yun Lee when asked about her showpiece creation by the panel of jury.

According to the Jury President, who is also the World Chocolate Master 2009, Shigeo Hirai, “Seung Yun Lee has the best originality among the contestants with well expressed and designed in relation to the theme of this competition.” Hirai was very impressed as he never saw any Asian woman who can create such a beautiful showpiece with high quality and high originality. In addition, Seung Yun’s work table was always tidy and clean which helped her to be very efficient with her work through out the competition.

This 2011 edition of World Chocolate Masters Asia Pacific Selection is organised by Barry Callebaut Service Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd. in cooperation with Taipei Bakery Association (TBA) in conjunction with Taipei International Bakery Show (TIBS) at Taipei World Trade Centre. This is in fact the first regional selection by Barry Callebaut Service Asia Pacific where five young, creative chocolate talents impressed the panel of Jury with their showpieces, pralines and pastries. These three other talents are Tai Chien Lin (Raffles Hotel, Singapore), Vikas Bagul, (Trident Hotel, Bandra Kurla India) and Owen Xiao (InterContinental Hangzhou China). All five contestants were judged by a panel of professional jury consisting of the World Chocolate Master 2009, Shigeo Hirai (Grand Hyatt Tokyo Japan & Jury President), Erick Chen (Corporate Chef, the Westin Hotel, Taipei), Johnny Chan (General Manager, PastryGlobal Food Service Ltd., Hong Kong), Delcourt Laurent (Executive Pastry Chef, The Regent Taipei) and Jean-Marc Benerlin (Technical Advisor, Barry Callebaut Service Asia Pacific).