Danes did it again!
Some call it the Olympics, some call it the World Cup of culinary arts. Bocuse d’Or, or the Concours Mondial de la Cuisine, (World Cooking Contest), is undoubtedly the most prestigious chefs’ competition in the world. Named after the legendary French chef Paul Bocuse, the world chefs’ championship Bocuse d’Or is organized every two years within the framework of the SIRHA fair in Lyon, France. Since the first competition was held in 1987, teams get ready for the big two-day final, passing through tough eliminations in their own countries, 70 countries in total, and then in continental competitions held in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pasific and Europe, and the final 24 qualified teams compete in the world championship. All the toil and tears are for the final five hours and 35 minutes, where the teams in their kitchen cubicles perform their culinary skills to prepare two elaborate presentations.
Bocuse d’Or 2023 was held on Jan. 22-23, and the gold was awarded to the Danish chef Brian Mark Hansen from Søllerød Kro in Denmark. Almost a classic case now, in recent years, Scandinavian countries have mostly shared the podium. They seem to compete with each other, rather than the other countries, trying to grab the top three places.
This year proved to be another close race between the Nordic countries again, Denmark winning the gold medal, Norway getting silver, but Hungary making a surprise, getting a bronze, leaving Sweden off the podium in the fourth place, and surpassing another strong candidate France in the fifth place. This year, Hungary pulled off and, in a sense, entered the Nordic league, taking the bronze medal with chef Bencé Dalnoki, while some regarded this as a surprise, for devoted followers of the competition, it was an expected result. Hungary has been working very hard for many years. The first Hungarian chef to shine was Tamás Széll, a former European winner. Since then Hungary had been dedicated to making its place and has proven that it now has a permanent place in world gastronomy.
Brian Mark Hansen and his assistant commis, Elisabeth Madsen, proudly took the prize, which resembles pretty much an Oscar statuette, trophies featuring the legendary chef Paul Bocuse with arms crossed and wearing his toque like a crown. The cheers from the Danish audience were loud. At this point, I’d rather prefer the term World Cup rather than the Olympics to call the event, as the teams are supported by wildly enthusiastic audiences, cheering and screaming like football fans. This phenomenon started in 1997 when the Mexicans showed up with a mariachi band. Since then, when kitchen teams work in silence in their cubicles, on the other side, the supporting audience competes with each other making their own theatrical existence at its loudest possible. The most colorful spectators in the spectator section this year were undoubtedly the Japanese. From their outfits to their organized up-tempo chants, they performed flawlessly.
Brian Mark Hansen said, “It has been fun to take part in this prestigious competition and a great challenge to cook in a hall that is full of flags, cheering roars and screaming spectators - almost as if it were a handball match.” He added that after all those stressful yet fun days, it will be good to go back home to his kitchen at Søllerød Kro, his Michelin-starred restaurant.
Brian Mark Hansen is already well-known in his country, but his world recognition came with the Bocuse competition. Denmark has already taken the top place twice before, this year’s gold being the third, France still holds the first position ever by winning the gold on eight occasions, including Davy Tissot, winner of the last competition in 2021. However, Denmark’s victory is not a surprise after the legendary, almost impossible victory of Danish chef Rasmus Kofoed, who in previous years has won bronze, silver and gold medals in 2005, 2007 and 2011, respectively.
Kofoed singles out as the only chef with a hard-to-beat achievement of getting multiple trophies. With the heavy package of such a legacy, Hansen says: “I am terribly proud. It is absolutely overwhelming, and the fact that Denmark is once again showing that we are good at gastronomy is absolutely fantastic. I have worked intensively with my dishes since November and had the most amazing team that has supported me - especially my amazing assistant Elisabeth Madsen and also and also Sebastian Holberg Svendsgaard, Olivia Jensen and Oliver Loeve have really helped to lift things up. Without them, it would not have been successful at all.”
The Tree Bends at an Early Age
This year, apart from the traditional competition, the teams competed in an unusual second lane. This new competition of Bocuse d’Or is entirely dedicated to children. Each team is expected to imagine a children’s menu that is both balanced, nutritious and fun. This new concept, titled “Feed the Kids,” started as a social responsibility idea. Considering that children are exposed to fast food culture from an early age, the aim was to raise awareness about healthy eating habits and to show that healthy food can also be delicious and fine. In addition to the professional jury, for this special competition, there is a special jury that consists of children with an average age of 10. There is a requirement to use a common ingredient that is expected to be featured in all the sweet and savory dishes on the menu.
The common ingredient chosen this year is squash, be it pumpkin, butternut, or spaghetti squash. When it comes to pumpkins, one thinks of Cinderella’s fairytale carriage that turns into a pumpkin at midnight, the pumpkin spice lattes that are fashionable in almost every coffee chain around the world, or of course Halloween parties. However, the chefs did not get caught up in children’s fairy tales and popular culture; they created very serious menus with an emphasis on flavor and elegantly elaborate presentations. The main dish had to include egg as an ingredient too. The winner of this competition was Japan, while France won the jury prize. Presenting the French flavor palette, the youngest chef of the competition, 25-year-old Naïs Pirollet, prepared a sumptuous breakfast menu with flavors such as pumpkin croissants and poached eggs served with pumpkin puree.
Bite of the month:
Crazy January: After the busy pre-Christmas period, the fine-dining restaurants of the world’s star chefs are calming down. Many chefs close their restaurants during this period and start preparing their new menus. What used to be a quiet period, even taken as a vacation for many chefs, has turned into a mad rush in recent years. There are many international fairs and conferences, chefs are shuttling between the gastronomic capitals of the world to give speeches and presentations. These events, which are the meeting arena for world-renowned chefs, usually take place in February and March, but this year almost all of them were held in January, probably because the Bocuse d’Or competition was held in January.
This year, Madrid Fusión, which was held in March last year, was moved to January and held on Jan. 23-25 with the theme of “No Limits.” This past weekend, the most important gathering of Italy, “Identità Golose Milano” took place in Milan from January 28-30, featuring some of the most important speakers such as Alex Andoni Luis Aduriz and Harold McGee. This year’s theme in Milan was chosen as “Revolution” and the slogan of the event was catchy: “Signore e signori, la rivoluzione è servita! “Ladies and Gentlemen, the revolution is being served!”