Goan girl wins Pastry Queen India 2017

Goa girl Eureka Araujo, 27, has won the second Pastry Queen India contest that was held here with the participation of five women chefs from across the country.

The winner studied hotel management from the Institute of Hotel Management, Goa and went on to pursue her management training with the Taj group hotels for two years after the course.

The competition, aimed to recognise creativity and innovation of pastry artists, was held at Academy of Pastry Art over the weekend by Hammer and Italian Exhibition Group in association with Elle and Vire.

This year's theme of "Astrology" was very creatively illustrated through sugar displays, including pastillage, chocolate cake, dessert based on tart, mini pastry finger ring and dessert in a glass by Araujo who chose the sunsign Scorpio as her subject.

"I thought of going for Scorpio and depicting the theme through all my desserts and show peice because all my close friends, family are Scorpios. I am a Virgo. The two signs get along pretty well," Araujo told IANS.

For her, the contest was "exciting and challenging at the same time".

"It was all worth it," she said, adding: "The cherry on the top of the cake was winning it."

Others who participated in the contest included chefs Reema Gupta, The Oberoi, Mumbai; Radhika Kulkarni from Taj Lands End, Mumbai; Rumana Jaseel from Incredible Art -- Kochi; and Riya Arora from The Leela Palace, Bengaluru.

The contestants were judged on their professional skills, and ability to provide a practical demonstration of trends and progress in pastry arts. Rumana Jaseel was declared the first runner up.

Araujo will receive now training at Academy of Pastry Arts to further hone her skills and to represent India at the Ladies World Pastry Championship in Rimini, Italy in January 2018.

"I would be getting to take India to the International level. Representing your country on such a huge platform could be the best thing for me," she said.

What are her plans for the World Championships?

"No plans in detail as such. I will start planning now. There is a lot more to work on. It will be much more extravagant than the national level," she said.

"Only three-and-a-half months are left to go for it. So, a huge amount of planning is required. Let's see how it goes," she added.

--IANS

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