Ewald KNAUF

Ewald, born in Germany in 1955, is a renowned chocolate master and has been head teacher at Cologne’s Konditorenmeisterschule (Confectioners’ Master School) since 1991, where he has taught about 1000 chocolate makers and pastry chefs over the years, many of whom went on to make their mark in the field all over the world. He began as a chef at the Düsseldorf Hilton hotel and went on to win several international culinary competitions, including a gold medal at the Kochkunstausstellung in Frankfurt, a silver medal in Berlin, second prize at the Confectioner’s World Championship in Stuttgart in 1993 and the Special Award at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in Lyon in 1996.

He was also a jury member for 10 years at the World Chocolate Masters and recently at the JRE Patisserie Competition in the Cologne Chocolate Museum. Ewald Knauf believes that the key to great chocolate making is precision, which is the sine qua non condition for creativity, something he believes has not always been the focus of training in Europe.