Five Minutes with Yves Scherrer
The Australia team placed sixth out of 21 teams in 2019 Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in France, after a selection process involving more than 50 national rounds and four continental selection events in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. We chat five minutes with Yves Scherrer on preparing for success at an international level and what comes next.
How did you get into the industry?
I always enjoyed cooking as a kid but never considered it as a career.
However, I wasn’t meant for school and long studies, so my clear option back then was an apprenticeship. In my hometown the choices were limited on the career options and I ended up doing a pastry apprenticeship. It was not the greatest start but I quickly learnt to love my job and it developed into a passion.
What are your greatest achievements and career highlights so far?
There are a few milestones, I think having the honour to be the manager for the Australian pastry team was definitely a big highlight. It’s a big privilege and a great challenge.
Another highlight would be when I was part of the Five-Chef Dinner for the Starlight Foundation. I got to give a bit of my passion and my time to help raising money for kids that needed support. Then three years later I was contacted by the mother of one of the children to be part of her bat mitzvah as that little girl wanted to fill macarons with her friends like we did at the hospital when we visited her. To see her again all grown up and healthy was definitely an outstanding experience.
You led the winning Australian team in the coupe du monde de la pâtisserie this year, how much work goes into training for such an event?
It is almost impossible to realise how much work is required.
It took two years of preparation on my side and with the support of key people I have to find the team members, find sponsors, find the right trainers, designers, mould makers, ingredients, logistics to go to Singapore and France, train the team and help them to get to the level they needed to get to.
And I had the easy part. The team members needed to get to a world level in their fields knowing that the sugar person Sonia Quek had never done sugar work before and the ice carver Rhian Shellshear had never done ice carving before.
As well as making cakes, desserts and ice cream cakes to that standard and specific conditions is an impressive amount of work on its own.
We got really lucky that Justin Williams already had an extended knowledge in chocolate work to guide the team as captain.
What are your five-year professional goals?
I have been thinking hard about that since I came back from the Coupe du Monde and I am looking at opening my own pastry shop. I just need to figure out where in the country I am going to do it and what style. So five-year plan? Having a successful pastry business!
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