PROFILE

Eddy, who is born and raised in Belgium, would always join his mother on Sunday mornings to the local pastry shop to get croissants and Danishes . He still remembers how fascinated he was, standing in a pastry shop surrounded by breads, pastries, chocolates and marshmallows. It was then, at only 7 years of age, that he realized that he wanted to enter the field of baking. Further inspiration came from his mother Ana, who is a passionate cook and home baker and his late uncle Oscar, who was a baking scientist.

Eddy started to create desserts at home at age 10, ranging from simple to extraordinary for his age. In Belgium he went to pastry school in Bruges and at PIVA in Antwerp. He also studied patisserie in Paris at LeNôtre and Cacao Barry.  As a teenager he worked in a pastry shops during the weekend and his talent was quickly discovered by one of Belgium finest pastry shops, Bundervoet.

Eddy’s other passion in life was America. As a teenager a huge map of the United States filled up his bedroom wall and his mother made him a small American flag which he fastened on his car’s antenna. While taking a trip on the train going to Germany, he met a lady from Texas who invited him for a visit to her ranch. Since then, Eddy has made his home in America. Eddy travels a minimum of twice a year to visit his family in Europe and to experience the latest pastry trends.

The American and European Press has named Eddy Van Damme the Prince Of Pastry. Chef Eddy has won numerous awards and pastry competitions and holds 5 ACF gold medals. The baking text book, On Baking, which he co-authored was selected out of 4,000 culinary books and has been awarded in Sweden as the best professional cook book of the world. He teaches his ground breaking techniques at the Pastry program of Houston Community College.  www.hccs.edu You can ask Chef Eddy baking questions by going to the Imperial Sugar website. www.imperialsugar.com and click on to Ask Chef Eddy.