Does watching food competitions on television get your heart racing? Do you revel in seeing contestants fight against the clock, crumble under pressure, and create dishes that you would never dream of replicating at home?
Then the Bocuse d’Or and the World Pastry Cup might be right down your alley. Described as the Culinary Olympics, these contests have it all (minus the “food journey” sob stories): the intense pressure, the intricate creations, the celebrity chef guests, and even the cooking disasters that send grown adults into meltdown.
These prestigious contests are held every two years in Lyon, France, during the gigantic food show SIRHA, which is what the Cannes Festival is to the movie industry: the place to be. Not only is it attended by over 200,000 visitors, and la crème-de-la-crème of the culinary world, such as Heston Blumenthal, Ferran Adrià, Joël Robuchon, Thomas Keller, Alain Ducasse, but it is host to over 20 food competitions in categories ranging from catering, baking, pastry, butchery, cheese, coffee making, and even oyster opening!
Bocuse d’Or
The Bocuse d’Or is named after 91-year-old chef legend Paul Bocuse, who in the ‘60s revolutionised the French dining scene with the Nouvelle Cuisine, a lighter, fresh cuisine that broke from the traditional, cream-heavy French cooking. His specialty: a truffle soup topped with puff pastry, which he served to the French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1975, and which is still the most popular dish served at his 3-Michelin star restaurant, l'Auberge du Pont de Collonges.
His influence is still being felt today thanks to the cooking schools, food markets named after him, and the legions of chefs around the world who learnt from his techniques, like our very own Gabriel Gate, who spoke to him in 2013, see video here:
In 1987, Bocuse decided to create the cooking contest in order to promote excellence and innovation in the industry, with chefs competing for the first time in front of a live audience. Fast forward 30 years, and the contest has become a slick production complete with seasoned MC’s, dramatic music and light effects, and a noisy, delirious audience that would put the most ardent football supporters to shame. (Remember South Africa’s World Soccer Cup in 2010 and the deafening vuvuzelas? You’ll get the idea!)
The contestants: 24 teams of two chefs, one lead chef and one commis, who first have to qualify in regional competitions (Europe, Asia, South America). In order to just make it to Lyon, let alone win a prize, the chefs have to train intensively for years, just like athletes - often to the detriment of their day jobs and family lives. But the once-in-a-lifetime experience of being coached by the best in the industry and competing on the world stage is worth the sacrifices, and can lead to great career opportunities.
The challenge: To create in five hours and 35 minutes two elaborate courses: one meat dish, and one fish dish. However in 2017, to mark the contest’s 30th anniversary, the contestants were asked to create an entirely vegan dish: a radical idea in notoriously meat-loving France.
France-based chef Dan Arnold, and his commis Ryan Cosentino, who earlier this year represented Australia under the watchful eye of team president Philippe Mouchel and French coach Romuald Fassenet, impressed the judges with the inclusion of native ingredients such as eucalyptus, macadamia nuts, and wattleseed in their dishes. Their efforts were rewarded with a 8th place, the highest ranking Australia has ever received in the competition, while the first spot went for the first time in the contest’s history to the USA team (presided by Per Se’s Thomas Keller), followed by Norway and Iceland. Watch Gabriel chat to Romuald during this year's
World Pastry Cup
Origins: This other major competition, which takes place at the same time as the Bocuse d’or, was founded in 1989 by pastry MOF (Best Craftsman of France) Gabriel Paillasson, a much-loved figure of the pastry world, who drives the crowds into a frenzy whenever he appears on stage.
The contestants: 22 teams of three chefs: one specialising in sugar work, another in chocolate, and the third one in ice carving.
Challenge: The teams have 10 hours to produce three chocolate cakes, three ice-cream cakes, 15 plated desserts, one sugar sculpture, one chocolate sculpture and one ice sculpture.
These very fragile sculptures, which can go up to 1.30 metres and weigh up to 15kg, are then transported onto a buffet and used to display the dessert and entremets, which is where most of the disasters happen, as one false move sees hours of work and years of training smash into tiny pieces on the floor. A lesser-known aspect of pastry, these showpieces require the chef to have some serious building skills, using tools that wouldn’t look out of place in a wood workshop. But while perfectly executed techniques are a must for the teams, the artistry demonstrated in the pieces also play a crucial part in whether or not a team will get a high score.
France, followed by its European counterparts, as well as Japan, regularly lead the competition (though Australia nabbed a very respectable 7th spot in 2013). This year was no exception, with the French team winning Gold again with a Rock’n’Roll-themed buffet:
While to some , these competitions can be seen as old-school and elitist (and still very much male-dominated), they play an essential role in fostering new talents, promoting the transmission of savoir-faire, and strengthening friendship between nations (even though, not unlike at the Eurovision, things can get quite political during the marking!).
The recent years’ results also give hope that Australia, which for a long time was seen as one of the weaker countries, keeps making its mark on the competitive culinary scene, and showcase the world its incredible homegrown talent, and a culinary identity that has nothing to envy our international counterparts. It will now be up to the two newly selected Bocuse d’or candidates from Australia, Michael Cole and Laura Skvor, to represent the country at the Asian qualifications in Singapore in April 2018, while applications are still open (until July 14th) to become part of the new Team Pastry Australia that will compete in Asia next year (also in Singapore). All the best to both teams on the long road to Lyon 2019!
Have you got what it takes to compete? To apply for the next have been extended until July 29th 2017. Lead image: Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie.
Tune in to every night from Saturday 1 July 2017 on SBS and finishes 23 July 2017. Visit the website to catch-up on episodes online, scroll through recipes or find out more about the show.
