“Shi zai guangzhou.” “Eat in Guangzhou.” It’s a phrase uttered all over China – whether with an air of triumph by locals or reluctant acquiescence by salty Northerners. One need not spend long in the city to quickly glean that Cantoners are proud – if not borderline chauvinistic – about their food. While Guangzhou’s place at the top of the Middle Kingdom’s food pyramid is disputed by few in the country, the global arbiters of haute cuisine are only slowly starting to descend from their Euro-centric high horse and wake up to the undeniable sophistication that chefs in this part of the world have to offer. Now, with the arrival of the Bocuse d’Or cooking competition to the City of Flowers, Chinese cookery is finally getting its place in the sun.
Bocuse d’Or, often described as ‘the Olympics of cooking’, is a biennial event that draws top chefs from around the world to compete for glory in Lyon, France, a town that happens to be Guangzhou’s sister city. Though the contest’s final showdown is not scheduled to happen till January of next year, the national selection process for candidates is already underway.
Last week, Guangzhou had the honor of playing host to the China National Qualifying Contest, a live action cook-off to select a chef to represent China in the competition’s next stage. The event, sponsored by LN Holdings and hosted at the Guangzhou Vocational School of Tourism and Business, brought together six top chefs from across the country in a grueling contest of speed and skill.
Contestants were given a mere three hours to prepare two dishes in a state-of-the-art temporary kitchen set up exclusively for the event. A panel of judges, composed of Chinese and foreign luminaries from the world of cuisine, scored the would-be champions not only on their dishes’ flavor and presentation, but also on how the chefs conducted themselves behind the scenes.
“The most important part of this competition is to cook great food,” organizer Florent Suplisson told attendees, “but also to be organized and to carefully manage your time.” A ‘kitchen committee’ judged chefs on criteria such as food waste, hygiene, teamwork and planning while a ‘tasting jury’ sampled their plated creations.
After careful deliberation the judges were ready to reveal their pick. “The good news here is that in some ways, we are all winners,” Suplisson told the assembled crowd, “However, only one candidate can advance to the next level.”
Amid tense anticipation, Chef Alex Fu from Shanghai’s mysterious Ta’ian Table restaurant was announced as judges’ pick to represent all of China in the next stage of the global cook-off, taking home a RMB10,000 prize purse for his effort.
The young James Cai of Chengdu’s Hilton Hotel also won honorable mention as the ‘best commis’, an award given to a chef’s assistant, who by competition rules can be no older than 22.
Fu will go on to compete at the Asia-Pacific Continental Selection in May – also to be held here in Guangzhou. During this final selection stage, chefs from 12 countries will compete for five spots in the final showdown in Lyon next year.
Does China have what it takes to advance? Are the gastronomical gatekeepers of the world ready to accept a Chinese champion? Time will tell. There’s no doubt that a strong bias exists at certain echelons of contemporary gourmet; the majority of the food items that are considered worthy of the ‘high cuisine’ label come from Western cooking traditions. Meanwhile, more than 96 percent of all Bocuse d’Or finalists over the competition’s 30-year history have hailed from western and northern Europe.
Nonetheless, if Alex Fu delivers the same prowess and flair that was on display Monday, he sure as hell has a shot.
Scroll on for photos of some of the chef's plated creations.
[Images via Bocuse d'Or]
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