Auckland pastry chef Victorine Basquin of La Petite Fourchette has been crowned champion of the Weave Cacao Mousse Masters, a first-of-its-kind competition celebrating the artistry of mousse and Pacific-made chocolate.
The Grand Final, held on 21 October at Elemental Cooking School in Parnell, saw Basquin take out the Pro Chef title, earning a trip to Papua New Guinea alongside Mousse Masters ambassador Peter Gordon and Weave Cacao co-founder Oonagh Browne.
Mousse-based Dessert
In the Promising Young Chef category, Shania Nickel of Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology impressed judges with her creativity and skill, winning 40kg of Weave Cacao couverture and a two-day Cacao Intensive Training Course with Browne in Christchurch.
The competition drew 10 Pro Chef and three Young Chef finalists from across Aotearoa, each challenged to create a Pasifika-themed, mousse-based dessert using Weave Cacao’s couverture chocolate drops – the world’s first Pacific couverture chocolate, crafted in Papua New Guinea.
Pacific Collaboration
Head judge Peter Gordon was joined by food writer Amber Rose, chocolate expert Luke Owen Smith, Oonagh Browne, and special guest Sperian Kapia, leader of the Mupa community in East Sepik, PNG, one of the regions where Weave Cacao’s beans are sourced. Kapia’s appearance marked his first-ever taste of chocolate mousse, and he shared a heartfelt message about the importance of collaboration across the Pacific cacao chain. “It was incredible to see how much effort all of the finalists put in,” said Peter Gordon. “Each dessert told a story, thoughtfully representing Pasifika culture, many with an emphasis on PNG. Tasting all that mousse was a tough job, but thankfully, somebody’s got to do it!”
The judges praised the exceptional standard of entries, noting how close the scores were across both divisions. In the Pro Chef category, Robert Cullen (NZICC) placed second, with Ben Chapman (Embra) in third.
Presented in partnership with Bidfood, Pacific Trade Invest, Food Writers New Zealand, and Elemental Cooking School, Mousse Masters aims to celebrate the connection between Pacific growers, New Zealand chocolatiers, and the chefs who bring cacao to life on the plate.
