TAFE NSW baking teacher Dean Tilden will compete in Paris for the title of World Master Baker.
Tilden is just one of six bakers worldwide to be selected to compete in the Nutritional Bread Making category at the 2018 Masters de la Boulangerie (Bakery Masters) competition at the European Show in Paris from 3–6 February 2018.
“Here I am, just a Maitland boy selected in the top six in the world,” says Tilden.
“Since I found out, the whole family has just been on edge trying not to say anything, but we have had to start planning for me to get there. It is now about knuckling down, so I will be training heavily for the next eight months. It is an amazing opportunity to compete on the world stage, but it doesn’t come without sacrifice.”
Tilden’s was selected by an international panel of judges for his outstanding performance at the Louis Lesaffre Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia in November 2015 as part of the Australian Baking Team.
Tilden has been teaching his craft at TAFE NSW in Hamilton for more than 16 years. He recalls an artisan sourdough-making course with Leon Bailey some 14 years ago as a turning point, learning to make “real bread”.
“I’d never really heard of sourdough, but our head teacher at the time sent Dean Gibson and I down to learn what we could. I’ve had my sourdough baby culture ever since. It goes on holidays with me, it goes everywhere,” he said.
Tilden’s campaign for the 2018 Master Baking Title is being supported by TAFE NSW, National Baking Industry Association (NBIA) and his mentor and Owner of Uncle Bob’s Bakery, Brett Noy.