It's the end of the second day of the Bocuse d'Or 2023. All the teams have now presented their monkfish-based platter as well as their squash-based menu for children. Today, Denmark, Hungary, Colombia, South Korea, Estonia, Mexico, Australia, Iceland, the US, Finland and Mauritius were in the arena.
Day two round-up
This Monday, January 23, the supporters were there to support Naïs Pirollet, a young chef representing France but also the only woman and the youngest candidate in the competition. The young woman, now full of confidence and experience, appeared serene and delivered a lovely dish worthy of a Bocuse d'Or final. Fans from Sweden and Mauritius also stood out during this day full of suspense.
On the tasting side, even if the jury stays quiet until the final result, Denmark made a strong impression as usual, with creations as delicate as jewellery, as did the US which offered a spectacular menu for children, with a squash in the shape of Cinderella's carriage and a dessert representing Snow White's magic mirror.
We just have to wait for the evening to find out who will be on the podium.
Day one round-up
On Sunday, 12 countries were competing: Norway, China, Belgium, Morocco, Japan, Chile, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, and Sri Lanka. For the first event, the teams had to make a'Feed the kids' menu based on squash, working from starter to dessert in a playful way. A jury of children aged 10 on average was also present to evaluate the different dishes, which brought some comic relief to proceedings. Some countries, like Canada and the UK, seemed to do well on this first day, as did New Zealand, which was taking part in the Grand Final for the first time.
For the platter theme, the teams had to imagine a creation based on monkfish. The Nordic countries, namely Sweden and Norway, were particularly inspired by demonstrating the cooking of this delicate fish. Landlocked Switzerland, also impressed with a very well-crafted mushroom-scale monkfish.
