Deep in the valleys of Venezuela, Trinidad, Granada, and even Indonesia, lie the highest quality chocolate plantations in the world. They are, of course, managed by Valrhona, France, and are often referred to as the Ferrari of chocolate. Headquartered in the Northern Rhone Valley of France, they maintain satellite offices in three cities: Paris, Los Angeles, and Tokyo.

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The hot and humid conditions of the rain forest provide the optimum conditions for the cacao bean, making Venezuela the most desirable of all their locations. The key ingredient increating the best chocolate is growing the most perfect bean. Valrhona has very strong recognition for quality from top pastry chefs because of their long term commitment for blending the best estate grown cacao in the world. Their high percentage of cacao content from sixty to seventy percent cacao and pure cacao butter, gives tremendous strength in aromas and full bodies to the chocolate.

It has always been known that the best chocolate in the world was created by the best pastry chefs in France, but there was no way to show this talent off. Starting in 1989, a group of France's most talented pastry chefs got together with Valrhona, to sponsor the higher caliber of competition to show off this talent.

The competition, as it exists today, comprises of fifteen countries - a total of fifteen teams. Each team represents three pastry chefs, with one alternate. Over the course of the year following the last competiton, culinary schools, hotels, restaurants and associations nominate their choice of pastry chef to represent their country. Valrhona then reviews all the nominations, and visits them personally. It is then up to the pre-selection team to select each team member individually, and put them in teams. Preselection is done by a professional panel of teachers and chefs in each country in the form of mini-competition.

Over the course of the next year , the selected team will get together approximately twenty to thirty times to plan their theme, and most of all, practice their selected piece. They will study a ten page list of rules as to what they may prepare ahead of time, what materials they may or may not work with, and how they must conduct themselves during the course of the competition. A representative from Valrhona will visit them in order to watch them practice, approximately two to three times. For when the day of the event comes, they will be under grueling pressure. The entire masterpiece must be created between the hours of seven o'clock AM through five o'clock PM. Once the bell rings, the chefs must stop their creation, regardless of their completion status,and take their place behind their booth, and wait for the judges to come by.

To demonstrate the depth and the artistry of what is being spoken of, a few of the masterpieces that were created at the 1999 competition in Lyon, France are featured here in this article. These pieces were created by artists of exceptional skill. What makes these photographs even more treasured, is that these photos are snapshots, taken by Chief Operating Officer Bernard Duclos of Valrhona. The professional photographer hired for the event , which captured the minute details of each artistic piece, lost the majority of photographs in an automobile accident. Every effort was made to enhance these photos to the best of their ability, so that the beauty of these artistic pieces could be viewed.

t is not uncommon for the European countries to place in this competition. After all, there are over 35,000 pastry shops in France alone. Spain and Italy are not far behind. American students and professionals who follow in this path usually do so after a mentor has shown them the skills they must have. So it is with great pride that the American Team won the Bronze Medal this year, with their theme Jazz . The American team brought with them a star studded cast, starting with White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, serving as the Team Honorary Chairman. The talented Mesnier has served through three White House Administrations, with the Clintons being the third. He also heads up the American Team Pre Selection Team on behalf of Valrhona which was held this year at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Next on the list is Executive Pastry Chef Steve Palumbo, who served as Team Administrator, and then Hilton's own Corporate Pastry Chef Stan Ho of Las Vegas, who served as Team Chairman.

The picture of the winning team from left to right, with Valrhona's Bernard Duclos is: l.Team Coach Donald Wressel, Executive Pastry Chef from The Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, 2. Kim O'Flaherty , Executive Pastry Chef from The Four Seasons Hotel in NY, 3. Stan Ho, Corporate Executive Pastry Chef for the Las Vegas Hilton, 4. Norman Love, Corporate Pastry Chef, Ritz-Carlton, Executive Pastry Chef for the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida, and 5. Eric Perez , Executive Pastry Chef for the Ritz Cariton Shanghai. Eric was actually working at the Ritz Cariton in Washington The US Bronze winner, American Song and Dance Jazz D.C. when chosen for the team, and was transferred to Shanghai about midstream. Not wanting to give up his place on the team, Eric commuted from Shanghai to all of the practices that were held in the U.S.,. Team won the Bronze Medal against France, Italy and Germany.

The next competition will be held in Lyons on January 25th, 2001. The team selected for the United States will be Michel Wuillaume from the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco, En Ming Hsu, pastry chef from the Four Seasons in Chicago, nd Ewald Notter, from the School of Confectionary Art in Gaithersburg. The alternative that has been selected is Jody Klocko, from the Hilton in Short Hills, New Jersey. They are already practicing, and have chosen their theme, which will be kept secret until the day of the event.

Competitions which have such built in intensity, often have end results that do not show up in the rule books. Great international friendships are built, and last a life time. It contributes greatly to making the world a smaller, friendlier place. The life long traditions learned by the chef in Shanghai are shared with the aspiring chef in Boise, Idaho. When the team from Holland was carrying their presentation to the judging table, a piece started to break off. As the entire arena of 300 - 400 viewers let out a soft chorus of "oohhhh's", a chef from the Swiss team leapt to its rescue, saving the piece from hitting the ground. The Swiss team got extra points for its team spirit, but it would have happened anyway.

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