Jouni Kuru won the World tuna competition championship in Italy.
Jouni Kuru (right) is the world’s best tuna chef. Gyro barrel
From Turku Jouni Kuru has made history. He is the first Finn to win the tuna competition held in Italy for the 23rd time.
Kustavin Kipinä’s entrepreneur and Turku Food & Fun Festival organizer Kuru covered, among other things, the second-placed Italian chef and the third-placed Japanese chef. He beat the Italian on his home turf, as the race was held in Sardinia.
Kuru is genuinely surprised by his win. He states that he has put himself in front of a huge challenge. The competition partners were of a tough standard, and tuna is not the most familiar fish to Kuru.
Jouni Kuru’s winning dish had tuna in three ways. He brought the edible Mimis flowers from Finland. Gyro barrel
The competition was organized in connection with the international Girotonno food event, which is dedicated to the cultural traditions of migrating tuna and the Mediterranean. For five days, the town of Carloforten turns into the capital of tuna, as migrating tuna swim past the island at this time of year. Tuna fishing has a very long tradition in the area.
Kuru brought Finnish flavors to the competition. His winning dish featured both fresh and smoked tuna combined with the flavors of the garden and forest.
– I wanted to bring grandma’s garden to the dish. It had flower pickle broth and currant leaf mayonnaise. I cooked the same flavors as in Finland, says Kuru on the phone.
The jury was sold. Kuru got the best score from the technical jury and the audience. During the competition, tuna became really familiar, as he prepared a total of 550 tuna dishes.
Carloforte turns into the food capital of bluefin tuna during the festivals. Gyro barrel
In addition, Kuru was awarded with a special mention.
– He showed great sensitivity and respect for local ingredients, which he integrated into his kitchen. The flowers and smoky nuances brought from their home country raised the dish to a whole new level, the jury described in their reasoning.
Kuru states that he really didn’t expect to win.
– I was expecting an intense and highly focused competition. Whatever it was, it was also co-creation. The atmosphere was simply fantastic. I am really taken by the votes I got from the audience and the technical jury, because I gave my all, thanks Kuru.
Kuru handled more than 70 kilos of tuna during the competition. The mornings started with filleting pieces of tuna weighing 6-12 kilos. The raw material could not be trained in advance, so it brought its own challenge.
Kuru promises that as soon as the opportunity presents itself, he will organize his own tuna event in Finland, which is dedicated to the winning recipe. However, Kuru reminds us that Finland has such good fish of its own that it is not worth bringing fish here regularly from elsewhere.