Pastry Chef Wins UK Chocolate Masters Challenge

Juan Pablo Colubri, who works at the Foundry restaurant, in London, entered a dark chocolate with smoked sea salt and dulce de leche.

He will now travel to the World Chocolate Masters final in Paris in October, to watch the globe’s best chocolatiers compete against each other.

Mr Colubri said, “I’m so happy and really grateful to everyone who voted for my combination. A trip to the World Chocolate Masters will allow me to witness first-hand the latest trends, new techniques and assemblies of chocolate. Most of all, it will be great to see the competitors in action and learn from them.

“My creation is a combination of Callebaut bitter dark chocolate – bright, interesting and acidic – perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the dulce de leche. At the same time the smoked sea salt opens the taste buds intensifying and unifying each flavour.”

Robert Harrison, UK and Ireland sales director for Barry Callebaut, added, “Congratulations to Juan, his winning combination shows that the spirit of flavour innovation is alive and well in the world of chocolate. Thank you to everyone that entered. We had some absolutely fantastic combinations and the voting for the final four was extremely close – we now look forward to welcoming Juan as our special guest to the World Chocolate Masters.”