Word: contests
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...compliments the MC paid the female judges, the Bocuse d'Or is nothing if not French. But because it is also a kind of culinary Olympics, with teams from 24 different countries competing over two days for a gold trophy that brings prestige and a $26,000 prize, the contest is imbued with national rivalries that extend from the fans in the bleachers to the flavors on the elaborate platters...
...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...
Those rules are precise. The biennial contest assigns the main proteins that all teams use (this year they included Norwegian cod and several different cuts of Angus beef) and gives contestants 5 1?2 hours to prepare the two platters, which are then evaluated by a jury comprised of one chef from each participating country. If 5 1?2 hours sounds like plenty of time, bear in mind that contestants must also complement their proteins with elaborate garnishes, keep their cramped kitchens clean, and stay organized while they cook on a stage, watched by thousands of screaming fans...
...they assigned their beef filet: Henry V. "It's a bit of fun," says team coach Roger Hulstone. "[England] beating the French at Agincourt, and all that." Adds chef Simon Hulstone, Roger's son, as he rolls a piece of cod in mousse: "It's a good thing this contest isn't being held in Germany...
...course, many may contest the idea of enriching a non-democratic, repressive, and relatively unfriendly government. However, considering some of the other countries from which the US purchases oil—a radically unfriendly and Soviet-esque Chavez regime in Venezuela and the notoriously absolutist monarchy in Saudi Arabia—any strategic or moral reservations about buying Iranian oil are moot points. In reality, the hardliners who oppose both developing trade with Iran and developing alternative energy sources are doing more damage to American security than re-opening our embassy in Tehran ever will...