The Finnish Bocuse d’Or team started their competition today at 11 o’clock.
Johan Kurkela represents Finland in the World Chefs’ Competition in France. Santeri Stenvall
The final of the Bocuse d’Or, the unofficial world chef competition, is underway in Lyon, France.
Today, Monday, is the last day of the finals and the representative of the Finnish team Johan Kurkelan25, and an assistant Aino Kasanen, 22, race day. The team’s goal is to be in the top three. Finland has been fourth in the competition twice.
Organized for 35 years, Bocuse d’Or is considered the world’s most demanding cooking competition. 24 countries from more than a hundred countries can reach the finals of the competition through the continental qualifiers.
The Finnish team started its performance lasting 5 hours and 30 minutes today, Monday 23.1. at 11:10 Finnish time. The first portions of the competition are completed at 16:10 and the second task at 16:40.
Kalle Tanner (left) is the coach of the Finnish team this competition season. Santeri Stenvall
In the first task to be completed, 15 three-course menus are made, the main ingredient of which is pumpkin and the target group is children.
The starter must be cold, the main course must be warm and, in addition to pumpkin, egg is a mandatory ingredient. The restaurant style is emphasized in the dessert, and the mandatory ingredient is pumpkin.
Cold pumpkin dish. Eeva Paljakka
A menu for children is a completely new challenge at Bocuse d’Or.
The Finnish team says that they use the colors and shapes of the main ingredient in their menu, and the target group is taken into account with the playful elements of the dishes
As the second competition task, the teams prepare a competition dish for 15 people presented on a serving platter, the main ingredients of which are monkfish, scallops and mussels. At the same time, the dish task introduces the country’s food culture and ingredients, and it’s called Loimu.
There is a playfulness to the pumpkin dish that we hope will appeal to children. Eeva Paljakka
Vadin is a designer designed for the task Laura Meriluoto and the parts of the platter have been made by a group of Finnish craftsmen.
Finland’s competition theme this year is Lumo, which tells the story of the first rays of light breaking through the northern winter to the international jury and the public. Lumo’s story is told in the competitions in the team’s introduction video, in the menu card texts, and by the Finnish judge Eero Vottonen in a speech introducing the Loimu mission to the other judges.
Aino Kasanen is Johan Kurkela’s assistant. Santeri Stenvall
You can follow the competition and prize giving live Bocuse d’Or from websites and social media channels.
The results of the competition will be known on Monday evening around 20:00.
Suomen vati tells the story of the first rays of light breaking through the northern winter. Eeva Paljakka
Background
Bocuse d’Or is the world’s most prestigious cooking competition.
The competition has been organized since 1987 and was founded by a famous French chef, a reformer of the art of cooking, who passed away in 2018 Paul Bocuse.
The Bocuse d’Or competition lasts two years. In the first year, both country-specific representative qualifiers and continent-specific qualifying rounds will be held in Europe, America, Africa and Asia.
24 finalists will be selected through the qualifying rounds. The final competition is held every two years in January in Lyon, France.
The plate includes, among other things, roasted monkfish and caramelized scallops. Eeva Paljakka
The jury consists of a prestigious chef from each competing country. The Finnish judge is Eero Vottonen.
The jury evaluates the dishes based on taste, appearance, use of main ingredients and originality. In addition, the final ranking is affected by working in the kitchen.
Johan Kurkela cooks a seal. Santeri Stenvall
Finland has participated in the Bocuse d’Or competition 15 times. Our country’s best rankings are Matti Jämsénin 4th place in 2015 and Ismo Sipeläinen 4th place in 2019. In addition, we have been fifth twice.
Bocuse d’Or Academy Finland ry, founded in July 2020, is responsible for the operation and financing of the Finnish Bocuse d’Or competition, whose board is chaired by Tommi Tuominen.