France, Finally, Wins the World's Top Food Award Again

New York Times

28-01-2025

French haute cuisine is, officially, the best in the world again.
At least, that's according to the judges of the Bocuse d'Or, a fine-dining competition held every two years. The last time the contest was held, in 2023, France did not even place in the top three.
'It's a real pride to bring France to the top again,' Paul Marcon, the 29-year-old French chef who led the team that won gold, told reporters.
Mr. Marcon's victory on Monday was also, for some, a victory for French cuisine itself.
The country reigned as the undisputed king of 20th-century European fine dining — even the word 'gastronomy' itself comes from French. But Denmark, the seat of New Nordic cooking, has become something of the Hamlet of the 21st.
The Bocuse serves as an ideal place for an international culinary joust. Although there are many food contests, this one is widely seen as the true Olympic Games of high gastronomy.
'You have the Eurovision, and then you have the Bocuse d'Or,' Nina Bauer, a Danish food historian, said in a phone call, referring to an international song competition. 'You become famous if you win them, and not just in your own professional circle — but all over the world.'
Over the course of the 20 contests held since the Bocuse began in 1987, France stands out as the dominant victor: Its chefs have won almost half the time. In the first 10 competitions, from 1987 to 2005, France won five gold medals.
But France's hold over fine dining has since slipped, some say, as Nordic chefs have risen to prominence. Since 2007, France won the Bocuse only four times in 10 competitions, including in 2021. Denmark won three times, the second most. Even the United States managed to triumph, in 2017.
'It has become a lot more about the chef's creativity,' Ms. Bauer said. 'There's a lot more focus, I think, now about uniqueness — instead of just being the best version of the classics.'
This year, France again faced stiff competition from Denmark, which won the Bocuse in 2023.
'The things they're making are amazing — it's extremely tasty,' Sebastian Holberg, 26, the leader of the Danish team this year, said of his French peers. 'And of course, they're creative, too.'
He led Denmark's team to the silver medal. Mr. Holberg described French techniques as the base, a standard upon which he and other Nordic chefs can riff. But sometimes, he said, France is holding onto classic techniques while Danish chefs are trying to experiment and let their ingredients lead.
'It's just more elegance in the flavor — like, we don't try to overcomplicate it,' Mr. Holberg said.
At the finale of the Bocuse on Sunday and Monday, France kept up its edge.
The 24 teams, each led by a chef and a helper, had five hours and 30 minutes to make a series of dishes on a platter, using a back of venison. Each team had to create a foie gras pie, a garnish based around a fruit from their own country and '16 closed, bi-colored ravioli, served hot, with a clarified venison consommé infused with tea.' And that, of course, had to be served to the judges in two teapots.
The chefs also made a dish in four hours and 40 minutes with celery (both stalk and root), stone bass and lobster. This, too, had requirements: 'The celeriac root must be offered in two identical whole pieces,' but the chefs could do what they liked with the stalk.
For many, France's win is a real 'football's coming home' moment. The award is named after the acclaimed French chef Paul Bocuse, who died in 2018. It's hosted on the outskirts of Lyon, where Mr. Bocuse lived and cooked, a city that is known by many as the 'World Capital of Gastronomy.'
In videos from the event, French fans waved the tricolor flag in triumph, as Mr. Marcon's team hoisted him high onto their shoulders. With his medal glinting around his neck, he grinned, pumping his golden award in the air.
'It's my childhood dream come true,' Mr. Marcon — whose father, Régis Marcon, won in 1995 — said in a statement in an Instagram post from the French team for the Bocuse d'Or.
'We succeeded together for France,' he added.