SIRHA, the annual worldwide event for the catering and hotel industries, came to a close after an exciting series of events from 22 to 26 January 2011 at EUREXPO, Lyon, France. One highlight was the Dîner des Grands Chefs du Monde, where 90 of the world’s greatest chefs attended a once-in-a-lifetime gala dinner in tribute to Chef Bocuse. In total, more than 200 gourmet chefs from around the world including names such as Daniel Boulud, Alain Ducasse, Joël Robuchon, Santi Santamaria, Yannick Alleno, Bruno Menard, Guy Savoy, Shuzo Kishida and many more gathered for this exhibition of international cuisine.
One of the main highlights was of course, the 15th edition of the Bocuse d’Or competition. A total of 24 chefs from around the world had only five hours and 35 minutes to prepare two dishes using the official products of Bocuse d’Or 2011, namely Scottish lamb for the meat dish and monkfish, crab and Scottish langoustine for the fish dish. To make the challenge tougher, they had to compete in dedicated contest kitchens in full view of the public! They were judged by a jury comprising of 24 influential chefs from the represented countries, led by president-founder Chef Paul Bocuse, honourary president Chef Yannick Alleno (Bocuse d’Argent 1999) and president of the international jury Chef Geir Skeie, (winner of Bocuse d’Or 2009).
In the end, it was Chef Rasmus Kofoed of Denmark who won the coveted Bocuse d’Or 2011 trophy and €20,000 in prize money. In second place was Chef Tommy Myllymäki of Sweden, who won the Bocuse d’Argent trophy 2011 and €15,000 and in third place, was Chef Gunnar Hvarnes of Norway who walked away with the Bocuse de Bronze trophy 2011 and €10,000. Several special prizes were also given out, including best commis prize for Chef Tatsuo Nakasu of Japan, a special fish prize to Chef Franck Giovannini of Switzerland and a special meat prize to Chef Jérôme Jaegle of France. The country of Guatemala won best promotional campaign and Spain won best poster.
To enhance the contestants’ skills and viewing experience of the spectators, the prize-giving ceremony was held in the newly launched Espace Auditorium Paul Bocuse. Named after Chef Bocuse, the hall covers 10,500 metres square and has a seating capacity of 2,000. To celebrate the official opening on 26 January, the last day of SIRHA, 70 three-Michelin-starred chefs left their handprints in the entrance to the hall before attending the Bocuse d’Or prize-giving ceremony. What a spectacular way to end yet another year of this prestigious event!For more information, please visit http://www.bocusedor.com/ or http://www.sirha.com/.
From. Asia Cuisine
