The Bocuse d'Or Stirs an Appetite for Competition
In 2015, America won its first-ever medal at the Bocuse d'Or in Lyon, France. Chef Philip Tessier and his assistant, Skylar Stover, took second place in the 24-team competition. Team USA had 1,662 points. Norway won the gold medal with just 7 points more.
Honorary President Grant Achatz did a doubletake on announcing the silver-medal winner. It's easy to see why he may have been surprised: In the decades since the event began in 1987, America had never gotten above sixth, and no non-European country had ever won the silver medal. A few days later, Achatz tweeted, "Why doesn't mainstream media care about Bocuse?"
In the years since, not much seems to have changed. Mathew Peters and his team (including assistant Harrison Turone) snagged top honors with the coveted golden Bocuse d'Or trophy in 2017, but America's back-to-back history-making competitive endeavors went largely unheralded outside of niche and industry publications.
Competitions that pit countries against each other often stir apathetic audiences to excitement and patriotism – take the World Cup that manages to make Americans care about the other kind of football, or the Olympics that take over commercials and corporate packaging for a few months every couple of years. So, as Chef Achatz wondered: Why aren't Americans as excited about the Olympics of the culinary world?
Good question! Is it because we're not chefs? To be technical, neither are the winners of the Bocuse d'Or. The vast majority of entrants are working sous chefs from hotels, restaurants, and other private hospitality venues. The competition gives them a chance to define their personal vision and brand on a world stage.
How the Bocuse d'Or Works
The Bocuse d'Or is quite a show, and its setup has all the makings of the competitive atmospheres that rile American crowds up to cheer on their favorite athletes. It takes place in a convention center on the outskirts of Lyon, in a trade-show space filled stadium-style with hundreds of spectators from 24 countries. Supporters blast noisemakers, shake rattles, and chant to exhort their favorite three-person team – made up of a chef, a commis (or assistant, in this case one who can be no older than 22), and a coach – laboring below in a row of side-by-side kitchen "boxes," or a "culinary theater" as it's more elegantly described by the competition.
In a usual event, each team has 5 hours and 35 minutes to prepare two showpieces – previously a meat dish and a fish dish, but in recent years, a meat dish served across 14 plates to simulate the restaurant environment and a themed platter. These are presented to a panel of judges representing each competing nation. Prep and parading of plates and platters included, the live spectacle takes two days.
The competition was modified in 2021, as most of the industry was, to account for the ongoing pandemic. Before the delayed Bocuse d'Or finally kicked off in late September, Team USA and other countries withdrew from consideration due to health and safety concerns before finalist selection was complete.1
Additionally, three teams (Morocco, New Zealand, and South Korea) withdrew from the 2021 competition after selection, bringing the total number of competing teams to 21. Aside from unavoidable logistical difficulties for hopeful competitors, the Bocuse d'Or's format was altered to recognize the difficulties chefs faced in adapting to the demand of off-premises dining.
The plate theme was replaced by a "take-away" test, which required competitors to create a starter, main course (which incorporated shrimp), and dessert based on the humble tomato and packaged in a reusable box made of plant-based materials. In addition to the top three honors, the 2021 Bocuse d'Or presented awards for the best commis and a recognition of a chef's social commitment.2
Team USA's Bocuse d'Or Journey
Changes to the Bocuse d'Or format aren't unheard of – 2013 introduced some substantial alterations to when and how contestants could begin planning the specifics of their competition dishes3 – but one factor is constant: competing in the event requires two years of preparation, from selection to setup.
Each team's stall includes the same kit of major equipment – including Convotherm combi ovens, as has been tradition for decades.4 By far the bulk of the hardware in the stall, however, is each team's own prep, service, and storage equipment – and chefs spend an untold amount of time and money shipping countless boxes of equipment and smallwares to France to ensure their culinary efforts don't come up short.
All of the fundraising, preparation, and training makes for some interesting stories indeed – as do America's repeated attempts to get to the podium. Team USA's appearance at the Bocuse d'Or in 2007 marked a particularly eventful loss, which included, on top of an underwhelming halibut torte, mysteriously missing chicken wing garnishes from Chef Gavin Kaysen's meat platter. They were discovered to have been eaten by a French dishwasher, and Team USA placed 14th.5
The story goes that, in 2008, Chef Paul Bocuse – yes, the namesake of the competition – asked Chef Daniel Boulud to provide American candidates with more support to better prepare them for the competition.
Along with Thomas Keller and others, Boulud created the Ment'or6 organization (known originally as the Bocuse d'Or USA Foundation), which provides a funding stream for the training and development of American competitors. (In what might be considered a redemption arc, Chef Kaysen serves as Team USA President and led the 2015 contestants to their stunning second-place finish.)
Live drama? Check. Great backstory? You bet. Self-renewing cast of young heroes? We've got 'em! Our mainstream audiences love fine displays of ambition, control, endurance, and expertise – but the Bocuse d'Or doesn't receive the same attention the American media or Americans themselves give the Westminster Dog Show.
It's Not Bocuse, It's Me
Two obvious components are missing from the audience's experience observing a culinary competition, much less for those of us who are watching from our TVs: taste and smell. This hasn't stopped the American fervor for competitions such as Top Chef or Chopped, though it could be argued we tune in not to enjoy the food or artistry but to see chefs sweat. The Bocuse d'Or, on the other hand, awards a chef's efficiency, organization, and techniques as much as it does his (or, rarely, her) successful manipulation of the ingredients.
What arrives on the platters and plates counts for only about a third of the score for each of the team's dishes – and with rules and regulations that can change from one year to the next, average American observers would feel as lost watching the Bocuse d'Or as they did the first time they accidentally tuned into a curling, dressage, or fencing event during the Olympics.
The mystery of the event doesn't diminish the overwhelming novelty value of what gets marched before the judges, though. Watching young Americans from Thomas Keller's The French Laundry extrude corn into a filament nest can add to the eccentricity of the spectacle if you remember that their boss also serves fried chicken at restaurants back in their own country.
Whether it's specific restrictions on where vegetables can be sourced from or waiting a mere 2 months before the competition to clue contestants in on what they'll be asked to make, curveballs are the stock in trade of the Bocuse d'Or – often thrown in the name of cultural and national terroir. But the resulting controversies, heroic adaptations of contestants, and polarized public opinion do stimulate worldwide interest in the Bocuse d'Or. Maybe it's all just too French for the American media and too esoteric for the casual foodie.
American Chefs Continue to Strive for Gold
Chef Bocuse's vision has strengthened the US team – and possibly much more, if that strength leads to growing enthusiasm for the pursuit of higher standards in American culinary education and training. Ultimately, America stands to benefit more from striving to execute hotel-catering frankenfeasts at the Bocuse d'Or than the European competition does from US participation.
The truth is, the Bocuse d'Or only just got interesting to America. Until we proved that we were capable of winning, the competition narrative couldn't hold general interest. Stories about Team USA using White House honey7 won't capture audience for an international cookoff, no matter how delicious and rare the offering. A gold medal, on the other hand...
At the very least, Team USA now has a standing to defend, and with that, the appetite of American sponsors, audiences, and the media for victory at future iterations of the Bocuse d'Or has, at last, a chance to grow.
References
- Bocuse d'Or Final. Fine Dining Lovers. Accessed November 2021.
- Bocuse d'Or 2021. Bocuse d'Or. Accessed November 2021.
- Bocuse d'Or Competition Announces Fish Course, Other Top Cheffian Changes. Food Republic. Accessed November 2021.
- Long-standing partnership: Convotherm has supported the Bocuse d'Or cooking competition for 20 years. Convotherm. Accessed November 2021.
- French Toast. Forbes. Accessed November 2021.
- Foundation History. Ment'or BKB. Accessed November 2021.
- Scandinavian Sweep At Bocuse d'Or, Team USA Uses White House Honey. HuffPost. Accessed November 2021.
Our coverage of the Bocuse d'Or includes contributions by Elaine Evans. Images courtesy of the Bocuse d'Or.
