12th April 2013
Spring 2011: Bocuse d’Or 2011
Bocuse d’Or is hailed as one of the toughest culinary competitions in the world and this year’s final in Lyon, in France, in January was no exception.
There may have been no awards for Team UK at the 2011 Bocuse d’Or but this competition between the elite of the Academy of Culinary Arts (ACA) shows at first hand how hard it is to grab a place on the podium. The atmosphere at this year’s two day event was electric and, for a culinary contest, surreal.
Imagine crowds at a premier division football match – but with drums, vuvuzela horns, whistles as well as loud cheers, and against this very noisy background 24 teams have to pull out all the stops to showcase culinary excellence.
For the first time the competition was held in the new Paul Bocuse arena at the Sirah trade exhibition in Lyon, and the 1,800 seater auditorium was jam packed with supporters and media from around the world, including the UK’s own ‘supporters club’ to cheer its team.
UK’s Simon Hulstone, chef owner of the Elephant Restaurant in Torquay, and his commis chef Jordan Bailey only came 13th this time around, but he received more support this year from the industry including foodservice giants Nestlé, Electrolux and Compass, and the groundwork has now been laid for more backing to be given to future candidates.
The prized gold trophy went to Denmark’s Rasmus Kofoed who continued his winning streak having taken the Bocuse d’Or Europe trophy last June. Runners up were Sweden’s Tommy Myllymäki and Norway’s Gunnar Hvarnes, the latter also a runner up in the European contest. Other prizes included best fish platter for Switzerland and best meat platter for France, while the best promotional campaign award went to Guatemala and best poster award to Spain. The prize for best commis went to Japan’s Maiko Imazawa.
Brian Turner, UK’s president and judge in the Bocuse d’Or, says we shouldn’t be too disappointed with our position in Lyon and that Team UK’s professionalism and dedication will help inspire a new generation of candidates. “While we did expect a higher position, even a place on the podium, we cannot be too downbeat about the final outcome. What happened in Lyon has proved we need to delve deeper into what makes a winner and increase our understanding of what the majority of judges are looking for.
“The standard of entry this time was incredible and right now the UK simply can’t match the level of commitment that these winning chefs can give [to the competition]. Rasmus Kofoed spent the last eight years of his life preparing to win the gold and has already won the bronze and silver.”
Bocuse d’Or is by far one of the culinary world’s most sought after prizes, launched in 1987 by France’s legendary chef Paul Bocuse to showcase the individual talents of young chefs, and it takes place every two years. The ACA of each country chooses its own candidate and those taking part in this epic cook off has to sacrifice an enormous amount of personal time for the task.
This was the second time Hulstone had taken up the challenge having competed in the 2009 final, and as soon as he was confirmed as the 2011 candidate his work began – no mean feat when you have a Michelin starred restaurant to run and you have to find the time and financial support for such a venture.
His coach for two years running has been Nick Vadis, UK executive chef with the Compass Group. He said they had prepared better than before and managed to have nine solid run-throughs in the run up to the competition.
This was essential as each chef with the help of a commis are tasked with producing in five hours and 35 minutes a fish dish using Scottish monkfish, crab and langoustine, plus a meat dish consisting of Scotch lamb loins with chump and kidneys and shoulder of lamb. Each dish had to come with three garnishes and be presented on silver platters to a panel of judges made up of an ACA representative from each competing country.
Hulstone and his team created a menu to bring out the best of the official ingredients. For example the monkfish he prepared for the dashi poached Scottish monkfish loin with wild fennel pollen was caught and frozen at sea so when defrosted it was as good as fresh and a first class product to use for his fish dish.
Very soon a decision will have to be made about who will represent the UK for the European final in 2012 and hopefully the big one in 2013. Turner meanwhile says we must look back at what has been achieved.
“The number of supporters increased by at least 100% from 2009 to 2011, funding increased from a few hundred pounds to more than £60,000, and we’ve secured significant media interest, which is key to raising awareness and hopefully more funds. We need to continue to build on these foundations to ensure we give future candidates the support and insight they need to perform successfully in this spectacular contest.”
The finalists’ ranking
1 Denmark Rasmus Kofoed
2 Sweden Tommy Myllymäki
3 Norway Gunnar Hvarnes
4 France Jérôme Jaegle
5 Finland Matti Jamsen
6 Switzerland Franck Giovannini
7 Iceland Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson
8 Germany Ludwig Heer
9 Japan Tatsuo Nakasu
10 USA James Kent
11 Netherlands Marco Poldervaart
12 Canada Ryan Stone
13 UK Simon Hulstone
14 Belgium Gaëtan Colin
15 Italy Alberto Zanoletti
16 China Shi Jing Shen
17 Spain Juan Andrés Morilla
18 Malaysia See See Lay Na
19 Argentina Juan Pedro Demuru
20 Australia Russell Clarke
21 Guatemala Nicolás Palomo Ventura
22 Uruguay Alvaro Martin Verderosa
23 Poland Rafal Jelewski
24 Indonesia Guruh Nugraha
Imagine crowds at a premier division football match – but with drums, vuvuzela horns, whistles as well as loud cheers, and against this very noisy background 24 teams have to pull out all the stops to showcase culinary excellence.
For the first time the competition was held in the new Paul Bocuse arena at the Sirah trade exhibition in Lyon, and the 1,800 seater auditorium was jam packed with supporters and media from around the world, including the UK’s own ‘supporters club’ to cheer its team.
UK’s Simon Hulstone, chef owner of the Elephant Restaurant in Torquay, and his commis chef Jordan Bailey only came 13th this time around, but he received more support this year from the industry including foodservice giants Nestlé, Electrolux and Compass, and the groundwork has now been laid for more backing to be given to future candidates.
The prized gold trophy went to Denmark’s Rasmus Kofoed who continued his winning streak having taken the Bocuse d’Or Europe trophy last June. Runners up were Sweden’s Tommy Myllymäki and Norway’s Gunnar Hvarnes, the latter also a runner up in the European contest. Other prizes included best fish platter for Switzerland and best meat platter for France, while the best promotional campaign award went to Guatemala and best poster award to Spain. The prize for best commis went to Japan’s Maiko Imazawa.
Brian Turner, UK’s president and judge in the Bocuse d’Or, says we shouldn’t be too disappointed with our position in Lyon and that Team UK’s professionalism and dedication will help inspire a new generation of candidates. “While we did expect a higher position, even a place on the podium, we cannot be too downbeat about the final outcome. What happened in Lyon has proved we need to delve deeper into what makes a winner and increase our understanding of what the majority of judges are looking for.
“The standard of entry this time was incredible and right now the UK simply can’t match the level of commitment that these winning chefs can give [to the competition]. Rasmus Kofoed spent the last eight years of his life preparing to win the gold and has already won the bronze and silver.”
Bocuse d’Or is by far one of the culinary world’s most sought after prizes, launched in 1987 by France’s legendary chef Paul Bocuse to showcase the individual talents of young chefs, and it takes place every two years. The ACA of each country chooses its own candidate and those taking part in this epic cook off has to sacrifice an enormous amount of personal time for the task.
This was the second time Hulstone had taken up the challenge having competed in the 2009 final, and as soon as he was confirmed as the 2011 candidate his work began – no mean feat when you have a Michelin starred restaurant to run and you have to find the time and financial support for such a venture.
His coach for two years running has been Nick Vadis, UK executive chef with the Compass Group. He said they had prepared better than before and managed to have nine solid run-throughs in the run up to the competition.
This was essential as each chef with the help of a commis are tasked with producing in five hours and 35 minutes a fish dish using Scottish monkfish, crab and langoustine, plus a meat dish consisting of Scotch lamb loins with chump and kidneys and shoulder of lamb. Each dish had to come with three garnishes and be presented on silver platters to a panel of judges made up of an ACA representative from each competing country.
Hulstone and his team created a menu to bring out the best of the official ingredients. For example the monkfish he prepared for the dashi poached Scottish monkfish loin with wild fennel pollen was caught and frozen at sea so when defrosted it was as good as fresh and a first class product to use for his fish dish.
Very soon a decision will have to be made about who will represent the UK for the European final in 2012 and hopefully the big one in 2013. Turner meanwhile says we must look back at what has been achieved.
“The number of supporters increased by at least 100% from 2009 to 2011, funding increased from a few hundred pounds to more than £60,000, and we’ve secured significant media interest, which is key to raising awareness and hopefully more funds. We need to continue to build on these foundations to ensure we give future candidates the support and insight they need to perform successfully in this spectacular contest.”
The finalists’ ranking
1 Denmark Rasmus Kofoed
2 Sweden Tommy Myllymäki
3 Norway Gunnar Hvarnes
4 France Jérôme Jaegle
5 Finland Matti Jamsen
6 Switzerland Franck Giovannini
7 Iceland Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson
8 Germany Ludwig Heer
9 Japan Tatsuo Nakasu
10 USA James Kent
11 Netherlands Marco Poldervaart
12 Canada Ryan Stone
13 UK Simon Hulstone
14 Belgium Gaëtan Colin
15 Italy Alberto Zanoletti
16 China Shi Jing Shen
17 Spain Juan Andrés Morilla
18 Malaysia See See Lay Na
19 Argentina Juan Pedro Demuru
20 Australia Russell Clarke
21 Guatemala Nicolás Palomo Ventura
22 Uruguay Alvaro Martin Verderosa
23 Poland Rafal Jelewski
24 Indonesia Guruh Nugraha