Word: chefs
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Perhaps nothing symbolized the American team's efforts at the Bocuse d'Or better than its beef cheeks. At the world's premier chef's competition, which ended on Jan. 28 in Lyons, France, the Estonians transformed the cheeks - a required ingredient this year - into pot-au-feu, the Brazilians stuffed potatoes with them, and the Malaysians spiced them up into rendang. But the U.S. competitors, 28-year-old Timothy Hollingsworth and his assistant, Adina Guest, braised the meat until it was silky, set it on a tiny round of baby turnip, and topped it with a floret of broccolini...
...fact, for the young chefs who compete in the contest - founded by revered French chef Paul Bocuse - navigating between the desire to demonstrate the glories of their national cuisine (to say nothing of their own creativity) and the wish to please a jury that tends to favor the classic French style is precisely the challenge. "If you're playing soccer, you can't use your hands," says Antonio Saura, a Spanish filmmaker whose 2007 documentary El Pollo, el Pez, y el Cangrejo Real featured the competition. "The Bocuse is the same way: you have to play by their rules...
...befits Spain's current reputation for culinary invention, the Spanish team took the most radical approach. Chef Angel Palacios hollowed out whole eggshells, then filled them with spherified scallop coral, made to look like yolks, and gelatinized algae broth that had the slippery, translucent appearance of albumen. "We wanted to pay tribute to Ferran," said coach Paco Roncero in reference to famed molecular gastronomy chef Ferran Adrià. "And we also wanted something transparent to show off the scallops...
...ahead of the classically trained jury. "You have to stay in the comfort zone of the judges," says Roland Henin, the U.S. team?s French-born coach. "They can't be tasting or looking at something they don't know, because you'll lose them." Innovative Copenhagen chef Rene Redzepi, who served on the jury, was a little regretful about that comfort zone. "I was hoping it wouldn't be luxury item upon luxury item, that they would strip away the pretension," he said after tasting his way through 12 plates of beef on the first day, "But that wasn...
...never placed higher than sixth place, but this year's degree of preparation - as well as its all-star leadership - seemed to bode well for Hollingsworth and Guest. Bocuse himself even said he hoped the U.S. would win. As supporters chanted "Yes we can" from the stands, the two chefs remained focused on their cooking, daring to break into smiles only when their platters had been paraded past the judges. In the end, Hollingsworth said he was proud of what his team accomplished, but that he thinks he understands why they didn't place higher. "What we do is more...