Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) has the honour to invite patisserie expert, Jean-François Deguignet from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Schools to showcase French patisserie making for the "Le Cordon Bleu Master Chef Week at IFT". The "Le Cordon Bleu Master Chef Week at IFT" took place from 25 to 29 June, a series of various pastry workshops were organised for IFT Culinary Arts Management students, the public and industry professionals to attend. The workshop included tutorials on conceptual knowledge and cooking demonstrations for French patisserie, followed by hands-on practical sessions. The workshops in the last three days were open to the public and industry professionals and received about 250 applications. During the workshop, Chef Deguignet demonstrated the culinary techniques in French patisserie including chocolate diamonds, orange cake, lemon cake, yuzu macaroon, savarin and strawberries formage blanc. The participants were offered a unique learning opportunity and were introduced to a sense-awaking experience of some traditional but yet innovative patisserie throughout the workshops. Chef Deguignet was brought up in a family of pastry chefs in a town near Paris. Hence at an early age, he discovered his great interest in pastry and developed skills in what would later become his profession. Since 1999, Chef Deguignet has been passing on his pastry knowledge and expertise to Le Cordon Bleu's students at the Paris and Korean schools. He has earned recognition in various international competitions and special prizes throughout his career. Le Cordon Bleu, one of the leading schools for teaching classical French cuisine, patisserie and boulangerie, was founded in Paris, France in 1895. Over the last century, Le Cordon Bleu has evolved from a cooking school to an international network of 29 international schools across 5 continents, in the area of culinary arts and hospitality institutes, maintaining at the same time the highest standards of culinary excellence. This extraordinary cross-over and collaboration between IFT and Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts School is a good example of IFT's endeavour to bring in new culinary elements to Macao and to exchange ideas with international prestigious institutions. Through organising this event, it is believed that the culinary skills and horizon of local citizens and professionals will be enhanced and insights can be brought to IFT Culinary Arts Management students.
