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| Nguyen Huu Thien An (far right) at the 2024 Asian Pastry Young Chefs competition in China. (Photo: NVCC) |
Nguyen Huu Thien An was born in Ho Chi Minh City. Eight years ago, he started studying hot kitchen at Saigontourist School of Tourism and Hospitality.
During his studies, he soon fell in love with the bakery at school and wanted to pursue this career. During his baking studies, he learned about and became passionate about fondant - an ingredient made from fine white sugar powder used to decorate and shape cakes or pastries.
After a period of apprenticeship and research, drawing the first simple cake designs from fondant materials such as pets, flowers, leaves..., Thien An had breakthrough thoughts.
He said: “Vietnamese culture is very diverse and rich, I want to bring that familiar beauty into fondant cakes as a way to preserve and spread national traditions in a modern form.”
This unique inspiration of Thien An comes from the deep respect for the cultural values of the country, childhood memories and family affection in the young man.
Hearing stories and witnessing unique customs and practices, he felt that he always had the duty to preserve and promote those good things. Since then, Thien An has diligently made cakes with difficult themes and entered them into domestic and international competitions.
Vietnamese culture is very diverse and rich, I want to bring that familiar beauty into fondant cakes as a way to preserve and spread national traditions in a modern form.
One of his favorite works conveying Vietnamese culture is the “Memories” cake that won a Silver Medal at the Battle of The Chefs 2024 international culinary competition in Malaysia. In this work, he painted a portrait of his grandmother and mother wearing conical hats on a fondant background and created familiar dishes such as bitter melon soup, braised pork with eggs, etc., expressing a meaningful message about family meals and the image of Vietnamese mothers.
After that, his Tet meal with the theme "Soul of Vietnamese Tet", including Chung cake, Tet cake, braised pork, Tet jam tray combined with impressive Dong Ho paintings, helped him win the championship of the Vietnam Talented Pastry Chef contest in 2025, and also received two secondary awards of Best Showpiece and Best Dessert in the program.
Previously, his work "Cuisine of 3 regions" with typical cakes from the three regions of the country combined with his countryside paintings also won the award for best artwork in the Vietnam Talent Pastry Chef 2021 competition.
Thien An's most successful work is the wedding cake called “Hoi the hat boi”. This work helped him win the Gold Medal in the Wedding Cake category at the prestigious Hong Kong International Culinary Classic competition last May.
This is one of the most prestigious culinary awards in Asia. Inspired by the art of hat boi, a long-standing traditional theatrical form, the cake is a fusion of love and identity, tradition and modern creativity.
Talking about this work, Thien An said: The wedding cake carries a poetic message about love and culture. The first layer is the image of a drum, like the drum that opens the play, also opening a new chapter for the couple. Surrounding it are red lotus flowers, a resilient and enduring flower, symbolizing silent but intense love, overcoming all the harshness of time.
The middle floor, with its hexagonal shape, is like a bridge between the past and the present, balancing traditional geometric beauty and harmony in couple life. It whispers: Marriage does not need to choose between keeping the old or pursuing the new, but knowing how to harmonize, growing together in respect and love.
The top floor depicts the bride and groom as opera characters, a majestic general and a shrewd woman. Although in the play they are on opposite sides of the battle line, in real life they are soul mates, life partners who hold hands and overcome all challenges.
This cake is a wish, a promise, a message of love and also a desire to convey a message about Vietnamese traditional culture and art. Winning the Gold Medal at the competition, he contributed to bringing the image of Vietnamese opera to the world , contributing to induce domestic and international audiences to explore the beauty of Vietnamese traditional culture under a modern lens.
With his ingenuity, creativity and love for national culture, Nguyen Huu Thien An has won a series of other impressive awards such as: Best Media Award at the 2023 China Creativity Competition; Gold Medal and Best Team Spirit Award at the 2023 Asian Pastry Young Chefs Competition; Gold Medal in the Artistic Cake Display Category and Silver Medal in the Team Category with the theme "Heritage and Innovation" at the 2024 Asian Pastry Young Chefs Competition in China; Gold Medal in the Modern Wedding Cake Category at the 2024 Battle of The Chefs Competition...
In his creations, Thien An always wishes to connect traditional cultural elements with modern baking art so that each cake contains a message of honoring cultural values. With his international entries, he spends a lot of time and effort telling stories about Vietnamese cuisine, people and culture to international friends.
Thien An shared: "Participating in international competitions, when I hear the judges and international friends look at my work and exclaim "This is Vietnam", I am very happy and feel that the path I have chosen is the right one. The acceptance and support from the audience is the greatest and most meaningful reward for me".
Talking about his future plans, Thien An said he will continue to bring his cakes to international competitions, to affirm the cultural and culinary values of his country to the world. He is also opening a class to teach how to make cakes from fondant to share this passion with more people.
Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/van-hoa/am-thuc/202507/dua-van-hoa-viet-vao-nghe-thuat-lam-banh-42b5770/
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