Big news! France just won the Bocuse d’Or (bokooz door) culinary competition in Lyon. The competition has been held every other year since 1987. It bears the name of celebrity chef Paul Bocuse who founded the competition. A panel of 12 celebrity judges taste their way through the best food in the world prepared by the best chefs.
This is no chili cook-off. It’s a two-day contest with teams from 24 countries. Each chef has exactly five hours and 35 minutes to prepare a beef platter as well as one with seafood, in addition to vegetable garnishes. Those final hours are the last step in four years of training. It’s the gastonomic Olympics.
Before this win, France had scored gold several previous times (as well as silver and bronze), but they’d come up short of the top prize since 2007. The French team was captained by Thibaut Ruggeri of Maison Lenôtre who walked away with 20,000 Euros in prize money in addition to the statue in the likeness of Bocuse.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 50th Anniversary Edition, by Julia Child
Related articles
- Canadian chef Alex Chen places ninth at prestigious Bocuse d’Or culinary contest (vancouversun.com)
- West Midlands News: Success for Simpsons restaurant chefs at Bocuse D’Or world cooking event (birminghampost.net)
- Coventry News: PHOTOS: French cookery competition chiefs ban Sky Blues! (coventrytelegraph.net)
- Irish Beef is selected as a key ingredient in 2013 Bocuse d’Or International Chef’s Competition (irishcentral.com)
I saw a news clip about the preparations of the Canadian team for this competition. The head chef had left his then job because prepping for the competition requires that much time and preparation. Truly a big competition!
The bragging rights for a win here are worth a lot more than the 20,000 Euros in prize money, aren’t they!
I’d like to volunteer to be one of the judges. I have 53 years of eating experience. I’d even agree to help wash up afterwards!
And I’ll be your translator!