As always, the Bakery Masters competition was a major drawcard at Europain, with 22 of the world’s best bakers gathering at Paris-Nord Villepinte to compete for the best bread, Viennese pastry and artistic piece.

Australian homegrown talent Brett Noy, from Uncle Bob’s Bakery in Queensland enjoyed a massive success at the marathon event, placing third.

Japanese Master Baker Yuki Nagata took out top gong in the bread category, with Hankan Johansson from Sweden winning the Viennese pastry category and Antoine Robillard from France taking home the artistic piece award.

Brett’s freestyle bread and nutritional bread received particularly positive feedback, with the judges impressed by the Australian’s low-sodium content and innovative flavour combinations.

“Our bread, named “Ying Yang”, had only 240mg of sodium, whereas your standard loaf of bread, at 2 per cent salt, is about 450-460mg of sodium,” Brett told Australian Baking Business.

“I was able to use Nu-Tech salt, which is a potassium chloride, which I blended with the salt to allow me to retain taste. As the other competitors’ low-sodium breads tasted bland, this really gave me an edge.

“The National French Baking Association has signed an agreement with the French Government to lower sodium in bread by up to 30 per cent, so it was very good timing.”

Brett’s patriotism also shone through in his “Heart of the Nation” sourdough entry, which not only incorporated local grains, but also the iconic Queensland alcohol, Bundaberg Rum.

“I used common Australian grains, kibbled wheat, kibbled rye, triticale flour and rolled triticale. Once the loaf came out of the oven I also made a glaze out of molasses, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and Bundaberg Rum,” Brett said.

“Glazes are an exciting new avenue for bread moving forwards. It gives a beautiful shiny finish, but it’s not sweet, because of the lemon juice. So you get this multi-faceted flavour profile when you eat it.”

Held every four years at the Europain trade fair, the Bakery World Cup has nine finalist teams from the Louis Lesaffre Cup, as well as three teams from the podium of the previous edition of the Bakery World Cup.

“I’m really pleased with the result. We prepared really well and on the day, it all went to plan. I finished on time and I produced probably the best bread I have made – that’s all you can ask for.”

Not surprisingly, Brett said he is relieved the competition is now over. Nonetheless, while he’s looking forward to relaxing and concentrating on his Queensland-based business, it won’t be long until Brett is back into the swing of international competition – albeit in a different capacity.

“It’s about to start again. Hopefully I can help someone else qualify and get the team to the Coupe du monde and at least get some of the team through to the Masters in Paris, in four years time,” he said.

“We need to get young people into these competitions, so by the time they are my age – in their 40s – they have a great depth of knowledge, skills and experience, and can pass it on to the next generation.

“One of the things I did when I was over there, as part of this process, is continue to talk with Puratos, in Brussels. Since 2008, we’ve set up a really positive professional relationship and Puratos are keen to assist the Australian baking industry to compete on an international level.

“For example, we have a tool kit permanently set up in Europe, thanks to Puratos, so next time we compete it will save a lot of money and hassel.

“It’s not a sponsorship arrangement, it’s just excellent corporate stewardship. It’s part of Puratos’ entire company philosophy; they want to see baking grow worldwide. They have phenomenal vision and understand the value of long-term positive relationships with professionals from around the world.”