InterSICOP 2024 Protagonists: Lluc Crusellas, world master chocolatiers
The young chef will present productive chocolate techniques and some of the pieces with which he won the WCM title at the next edition of InterSICOP, which will take place from 17 to 20 February at Ifema Madrid.
Lluc Crusellas discovered his love for pastry at the age of 17, working in the dessert department of Nandu Jubany's restaurant. After training at the prestigious Espaisucre and Hofmann schools, he joined the team at La Pastisseria de Josep Maria Rodríguez, where he learned organisation and production methods. Since 2017 he has been the pastry chef at El Carme in Vic (Barcelona) and has just launched the chocolate brand Eukarya.
Despite his youth, Crusellas is constantly receiving recognition, such as the recent Prix au Chef Pâtissier 2023 awarded by the International Academy of Gastonomy. However, his greatest achievement has been to be proclaimed World Chocolate Masters 2022 and thus become the first Spaniard and the youngest in the history of this competition to achieve the victory.
To compete in the WCM, the young chef prepared for a year and a half and was accompanied by a team of 18 collaborators throughout the process. After three days and six tests, Crusellas beat the other 17 candidates with a spectacular work in which we highlight an artistic showcase featuring a chocolate elephant, three metres tall and weighing more than 170 kilos, a symbol of the struggle to survive climate change. Another creation that was very popular was #Share, a proposal to share based on an assortment of chocolates made with a 3D printer.
At InterSICOP 2024, Lluc Crusellas will give the technical seminar "Chocolate creations of a world champion", on Monday 19 February at 4 pm. In this session, as well as sharing chocolate techniques and formats with the production needs of an establishment or a restaurant in mind, he will be making some of the pieces he presented at the World Chocolate Masters.
Interview with Lluc Crusellas, speaker at InterSICOP 2024
1.- What has winning the World Chocolate Masters meant to you?
It has meant a radical change in the way I see many things. I see a personal life in the future much more focused on work and public activity, and at the professional level, I feel much more demanding, more pressure and more challenges. But the assessment is very, very positive, I am proud of the road I have travelled so far and I am eager to continue growing and improving every day.
2.- Did you expect victory?
No, emphatically not. My goal (as reflected in the documentary that will be released in 2024 about the whole preparation for the World Chocolate Masters) was to be in the top 5. If I had finished fourth, I would have been very satisfied. I was aware of the level that a WCM demands, I tried to give it my all and it worked out well.
3.- What would you recommend to chefs who want to participate in the next edition?
Attitude, perseverance and belief in yourself. Thinking that there will always be someone better, but if you take care of all the details, it is possible to get the title. It is essential not to leave anything to improvisation.
4.- You have just launched the chocolate brand Eukarya. How would you define this chocolate?
For me, it is a brand that is alive, in movement and that is going to evolve and not remain stagnant. Tasting this chocolate is an experience in all areas, from communication, to the treatment in the shop, to the packaging. I would define it as an accessible luxury chocolate that the user will want to try and repeat.
5.- At InterSICOP 2024 you will showcase chocolate techniques and some of the pieces you presented at the championship. Who will your presentation be aimed at and why is it important to attend?
My presentation at InterSICOP 2024 is aimed at the sector, at confectioners and chocolatiers, even chefs, who want to see techniques and formats that really are real, that can be used in a shop or restaurant. Beautiful, good, but above all productive.