Word: french
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From the heavy presence of seafood mousses to the cheesy 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...
Team president Thomas Keller, chef at the French Laundry, signed on when he was approached by none other than Bocuse himself. "When Monsieur Bocuse asks you, you say 'Yes, Chef,' " he explains. Keller transformed his father's old house, located next door to the Napa Valley restaurant, into a training center for Hollingsworth and Guest, and together with New York City?based four-star chef and honorary Bocuse president Daniel Boulud, raised $500,000 for the team. Their aim, Boulud says, was "to show what amazing food we cook...
...exquisite garnishes with pastry windmills. First-timers Uruguay served their oxtails in hand-painted ceramic pots from home. The British team's national touch came in the name 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...
...doesn't pay to get too far ahead of the jury, a lesson that France and the Scandinavian countries have learned to good effect. "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 René 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...