The American team awaits the results in suspense…

Jeffrey Hamelman, director of the King Arthur Flour Bakery, is also a hard-working coach of the United States team that just finished competing at La Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, the “bread baking Olympics,” in France. This is Jeff’s report from Paris. Note: All photos courtesy of Jeffrey Hamelman and Brinna Sands.

March 29, Day One
As the train emptied out at the Parc des Expositions, hundreds of people from dozens of countries flowed toward the convention center. Europain—the great French baking trade show that takes place in Paris every three years, showcasing the finest in European baking equipment, ingredients, products, and baking schools—was just beginning. And for many of the attendees, the most compelling part of the coming days was La Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, the foremost baking competition in the world. (more…)

Friday’s evaluation session took longer than expected, as we dissected each and every bread and pastry product (literally and figuratively), and each aspect of Dara’s decorative piece, with intent detail. It can be extremely demoralizing for the team to work so hard all month, all week, and all day on their individual products, only to then sit at the evaluation and be told all the things that need to be improved, or changed, or eliminated, or incorporated. (more…)

The Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie–“the bread-baking Olympics”–is now about 10 weeks away, and the three bakers who’ll represent the United States–Solveig Tofte of Minnesota (breads), Peter Yuen of Chicago (viennoiserie), and Dara Reimers of Maine (artistic design)–have returned to the Johnson & Wales campus in Providence, Rhode Island for more practice sessions. (more…)

Yesterday went well. Many, many improvements were noted during the day, some subtle, some dramatic. What a difference (seemingly) small adjustments can make. For example, the baguettes that Solveig made on the first practice day… (more…)

There is a hushed intensity in the room today, and the three team members exhibit a raptorlike focus. The suggestions made during the evaluation session last night have been revealing themselves all day. Rather than keeping a quasi-distance (more…)

The day started early and mellow. By 7 a.m. the team members were here at the bakeshop and ready to go. The official clock began to tick at 7:30 a.m., and the 8-hour day began. The energy was good, and things moved smoothly and swiftly. Bread doughs were mixed, (more…)

King Arthur Flour certified master baker Jeffrey Hamelman is spending this week coaching Baking Team U.S.A. as it prepares for the “bread-baking Olympics” in Paris this coming March. He’ll be posting regular reports from the team’s practice facility in Providence, R.I.

The Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie is the foremost bread competition in the world. It takes place in Paris every three years (beginning in 2010 it will occur every two years). It was founded by Christian Vabret, a renowned baker and educator from Aurillac, France, whose vision was to create a venue that would showcase the finest qualities of baking skill, and at the same time foster and further the worldwide camaraderie among bakers. (more…)