Middle East pastry chefs return to Singapore for La Crème de la Crème event

Chefs from Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined professionals from seven other countries for the 2017 edition of la Crème de la Crème pastry event at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy in Singapore.
The event, organised by CNIEL, the French Dairy Interbranch Organisation, and the European Union, and in association with Sopexa Middle East, is part of a three-year partnership to promote French dairy products in the Middle East and Asia.
Chef Mayada Badr from Saudi Arabia and Chef Waddah Bou Saad from the UAE, where French cream imports are expected to top 5,000 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes respectively in 2017 were representing the region.



Laurent Damiens, Communication Director, Centre National Interprofessionel de l’Economie Laitière (CNIEL), said: “French cream is an essential ingredient in authentic French pastry and no other product can replicate its rich and aromatic flavours. Creating new pastries by combining these traditional flavours and techniques with new international and modern influences demonstrates the versatility of this key ingredient.”
The Middle East chef contingent was joined at the event by representatives from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. Each was tasked with creating a unique pastry with the masterpieces presented to an audience of leading F&B media during a glittering evening event.
Chef Mayada Badr was born in Geneva and raised in Riyadh and Makkah allowing, through travel, for a unique perspective on culture, taste and the importance of food. It was in Paris with her family, where Chef Mayada first developed an interest in gastronomy, inspired by the city’s indulgent pastries and culinary quirks.
“My job gives me the opportunity to travel the world and sample some of the finest ingredients in the most amazing countries. As part of the event we had to develop our very own pastry creation within the tight parameters. The name of my dessert, Al Huda, is an Arabic word meaning guidance to the right path and, for me, the colour white, which we had to use as part of the brief, represents serenity and peacefulness.”
Educated at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu Paris, Chef Mayada has interned at Ladurée and Bastide de Saint Antoine, a two-Michelin starred restaurant in the French city of Grasse. She moved back to Saudi Arabia to open Pink Camel pastry boutique, combining Arabic and French influences.
Chef Waddah began his career in Syria before moving to Lebanon and then settling in Dubai in 2007 when he embarked on prestigious appointments at the Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi and La Serre in Dubai. It was at La Serre, under Chef Izu, that Chef Waddah learned the importance of French baking, allowing him to perfect his hand at authentic patisseries. In 2016, Chef Waddah became a part of YSeventy7 an F&B boutique agency created by Chef Izu and developing unique concepts, including the recently opened Lighthouse in D3.
Channelling a passion for the art of traditional French baking, Wadah’s creation for the competition, named White Forest, embraced the opportunity to be creative in both the techniques as well as the ingredients, utilising artistic flare and his trademark style of decoration.
Chef Waddah explained: “The White Forest sits on a sablé breton base with layers of chocolate sponge, chocolate cream, mixed berry confit and Morello cherries, finished off with white chocolate vanilla cream.”
Chef Mayada and Chef Waddah were joined by Jewook Ko (South Korea), Sarah Ni (China), Nicolas Lambert (Hong Kong), Nicolas Bacheyre (France), Talita Setyadi (Indonesia), Cheryl Koh (Singapore), Julien Perrinet (Taiwan), and Paul Gardin (Malaysia).
Chefs had to work on the theme ‘Blanc de Blanc’, or ‘White of Whites’, with the only requisite being to use their creativity to make a dessert with one shade of white and one texture of cream.
The final recipes will be published in an illustrated recipe book, which will be used as a training tool for students’ and used to highlight the stunning pastries crafted using European cream during pastry demonstrations and training given to young professionals in each country part of the Cream of Europe campaign.
While still learning their craft, these young chefs will see how using the best dairy cream will enhance the taste and quality of their creations by revealing the full spectrum of dessert aromas while providing perfect texture and holding.

Press materials: Shamal Communication

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