The final of the 25^th edition of the mythical “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France / One of the Best Artisans in France” championship in the ice cream making speciality (MOF Glacier), takes place on the 21^st and 22^nd February in Versailles (Paris), with six candidates competing:  Jean Christophe Vitte, Jean Thomas Schneider, Nicolas Jordan, Christophe Bouret, Vincent Boué and Jean-Luc Kenneally. After three years of preparation and having won through the regional trials in Tarbes and Le Mans in February 2014, these professionals will face theoretical and practical challenges under the competition theme of “Versailles, theatre of history, garden of kings” (Versailles, théâtre de l’histoire, jardin des rois).  The winners of this tough competition, which could be just one of them or all six, will also form part of the team for the new project of Georges Michaud (MOF Glacier 1976). This important event is organised by the National Confederation of Glaciers of France.

The tests consist of three ice sculptures and one artistic piece of nougatine (nougat and caramelised nuts), that will support a buffet composed of one reinterpretation of a vacherin, macaroons and small ice cream cups, regional individual ice cream cake specialities, and stick ice cream. In the theoretical part, they must present a written report and then defend it in front of the judges. This report will cover the history of the different specialities, food safety regulations and the theme of Versailles. The judges have a total of 400 points at their disposal, of which 40 correspond to their evaluation of the work, 100 to the sculptures of ice and nougatine and the rest of the product, 200 to the tasting, 20 points to the recipes and 40 points to the written report.

Finalists:

Jean Christophe Vitte
Professor of pastry cooking in the catering school of Avignon and World Ice Cream Champion at Sigep 2014, Jean-Christophe competes for the second time for the title of MOF Glacier. According to Vitte, for MOF “you must be excellent in every catergory. There is no margin for error.”

Jean-Thomas Schneider
Runner-up at the World Ice Cream Championships at Sigep 2012, Jean-Thomas is a consultant and trainer in pastry cooking and ice cream making. He has worked in various 3-star Michelin restaurants. He says that his route to the final “was difficult, but had been very satisfactory. The MOF Glacier is a very human adventure that requires physical preparation as well as a daily moral discipline.”

Nicolas Jordan
Pastry Chef Instructor at Le Cordon Bleu Paris school, Nicolas Jordan, has worked in many pâtisseries and for 7 years has worked to perfect his technique in ice scupture in Canada alongside MOF Glacier Christian Faure and Jean-Marc Guillot.

Christophe Bouret
Christophe Bouret works in research and development at the French ice cream and frozen pastry firm, Charlotte. He is also passionate about competitions. World Ice Cream Champion 2014 and champion of the 5^th edition of the “Master des Desserts Glacés 2013” alongside Benoît Lagache, in his opinion “MOF is the most coveted title and the most difficult to earn. Since the World Cup in Sigep I have not stopped and the elimination round in Le Mans was a very important step for me.”

Vincent Boué
Teacher at the catering school, Sainte-Thérèse de La Guerche-de-Bretagne, and finalist of the competition in 2011, Vincent Boué is a specialist in ice sculputre. He participated in the work entitled, “Encyclopedia of Desserts”, which presented all the classic creations in French pastry cooking.

Jean-Luc Kenneally
Of Irish origin, he is the second pastry chef from the Grand Hôtel of Saint-Jean in Cap-Ferrat. His great-grandfather worked with Auguste Escoffier.