The Great Chocolate Showdown is a dessert competition show where 10 people come together and participate in various challenges with the goal of being named the Ultimate Great Chocolate Showdown champion. Knowing his experience with pastries and chocolate, the Food Network in Canada hired Hodge to critique the participants’ creations with two other judges.
Hodge, who majored in business administration, started his professional career in the culinary arts when he was 21, when he was attending California School of Culinary Arts. Early in his career, a fellow chef explained to Hodge that pastries are a difficult craft to master, which then motivated Hodge to succeed. He was an apprentice to both Wolfgang Puck Catering and Porto’s Bakery in California, which allowed him the opportunity to take his skills abroad. In Canada, he was an executive chef for the Glowbal Group and in England he worked for Le Caprice, The Wolseley, and a three Michelin-Star restaurant with Gordon Ramsay.
His time abroad amplified his passion and appreciation towards pastries, which led him to open his own business called Temper Chocolate and Pastry located in Vancouver, Canada.
The Great Chocolate Showdown premiers February 4.
By Destiny Randle '23. Photo courtesy Food Network Canada.
