Chefs Archives : TRAVEL/FOOD

On July 21, the Selection Committee presided by Jérôme Bocuse met to decide which countries in the Asia-Pacific region would qualify for the Grand Final of the Bocuse d’Or, a two-day biennial world chef championship. Named in honor of Paul Bocuse, the renowned chef and restauranteur who was the recipient of the coveted France’s prestigious “Meilleur Ouvrier de France,” the Bocuse d’Or is considered one of the most prestigious gastronomic competition in the world.

Held in Lyon, the home town of Bocuse, the next competition is scheduled for January 22 and 23, 2023 and is held during Sirha Lyon, the World Hospitality & Food Service trade show. Lyon, the capital city in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France is nestled at the confluence of the Rhône and Saô rivers.

According to Inés Carrayrou of Monet+Associates Agency for the Bocuse d’Or Americas 2022, each team vying for a chance to participate in the Grand Final was required to submit a recipe based upon a main ingredient and make a presentation. 24 chefs will ultimately be selected and during the intense two-day competition will have just five hours and 35 minutes–and not a second longer–to prepare their dish which is then presented ‘à la française’ on a tray or platter. Each entry is exquisite and the winner recieves what the Bocuse d’Or website describes as “the most beautiful trophy in the world of gastronomy.”

5 TALENTED TEAMS JOIN THE WINNERS OF THE PREVIOUS 2022 SELECTIONS

The five winning countries are:

Australia – Alexander McInstosh
China – Nick Lin
Japan – Tomoyuki Ishii
New Zealand – William Mordido
South Korea – Hwang Byeong Hyen

The teams, the recipes as well as the theme plates they’ll be preparing will be announced this fall.

Listed below are the teams that qualified for the different continental selections.

Bocuse d’Or Europe 2022

1st: Denmark – Brian Mark Hanse
2nd: Hungary – Bence Dalnoki
3rd: Norway – Filip August Bendi
4th: Sweden – Jimmi Eriksson
5th: Iceland – Sigurjón Bragi Geirsson
6th: Finland – Johan Kurkela
7th: France – Naïs Pirollet
8th: United Kingdom – Ian Musgrave
9th: Switzerland – Christoph Hunziker
10th: Belgium – Sam Van Houcke

Bocuse d’Or Americas 2022

1st: USA – Jeffery Hayashi
2nd: Canada – Samuel Sirois
3rd: Chile – Ari Zúñiga
4th: Colombia – Carlos Pajaro
5th: Mexico – Marcelo Hisaki

“Paul Bocuse was the incarnation of French cuisine,” said then-French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018 when Bocuse passed away in Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, in Lyon, where he was born and operated his main restaurant. Bocuse, credited with changing French cuisine with the introduction of nouvelle cuisine, a lighter, fresher approach to the classic cookery of France.

At the time of his death, Bocuse’s restaurant, L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, had retained three Michelin stars since 1965, which according to The Washington Post, was “one of the longest runs in Michelin history.

Below is one of his famed recipes.

Paul Bocuse’s Apple Tarte Tatin

Shortcrust Pastry

Caramel

Tart

2 pounds 8 ounces (1.2 kg) Golden Russet apples
Sweet shortcrust pastry dough
Flour, for dus

Melt the butter in a double-boiler, stirring it with a whisk. Let cool for a few seconds. Add the salt and mix. Add the confectioners’ sugar. Mix. Add the flour in a steady stream, while continuing to mix. Once the dough begins to come together, take out the whisk and continue to mix with a spatula. Work in the baking powder.

Break the egg into a ramekin, beat it with a fork, then pour it into the dough. Mix it until the dough comes together into a ball. Flatten it slightly, put it on a plate, and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

If you prepare the dough the day before, remember to take it out of the refrigerator a bit before you want to use it, so that it is not too hard.

You can also make the caramel several hours in advance. There is no need to reheat it before arranging the apples.

Step 2: Caramel

Heat the sugar over high heat in a saucepan. When the sugar has turned a nice, golden color and is beginning to foam, mix it with a wooden spoon. Add the butter. Mix until the butter is melted.

To make a successful caramel, wipe the pan out carefully before starting the process. Move it around during the cooking of the sugar, but do not use any utensils.

The caramel should have a good color without becoming at all brown. Allow 3 to 4 minutes or so.

Pour the caramel into a 8-inch (20-cm) metal baking dish. Split the vanilla pod in two without separating the two halves. Put it into the pan, right in the middle, to form a “V”.

Step 3: Tart

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Peel and core the apples. Cut them in half vertically. Arrange the apples, standing them upright in the pan. Fill in the center, and fill up any gaps.

It is important for the success of the tart that the apples are all the same thickness. Peel them immediately before cooking to make sure they do not oxidize when in contact with the air.

Place the pan in the bottom of the oven and cook for 1 hour. Check that the apples are cooked. Allow to rest for 10 minutes, then chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Place the dough on parchment paper, and flour it lightly. Roll it out into a circle about 1/8-inch (3-mm) thick. Lay the lid of the dish upside down on the pastry, and cut the pastry out to the same interior dimensions as the lid. Cut away the excess.

Prick the surface of the dough all over, using a fork. Trim the greaseproof paper to within 1/2 inch (12 mm) of the edge of the dough. Slide the dough, on the paper, onto a baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes. Lay the cooked pastry on a cooling rack. Allow it to cool and harden.

It is always helpful to use parchment paper: there is no need to butter the pan, and the transfer of the pastry base is easy.

After 10 minutes of cooking, the pastry will still be soft. It hardens completely when cool. Handle it with care!

A few minutes before serving, gently warm a serving plate. Place the pastry disk over the apples. Unstick the apples by holding the pastry with one hand and turning the pan from all angles.

When the apples are unstuck from the bottom, turn out the tart. Lay the plate upside down over the pan, invert, and lift the pan away. The tart is ready to be devoured!

This recipe was originally published in “My Best Paul Bocuse” (Éditions Alain Ducasse).