English chef flies high in Bocuse d'Or cook-off
John Williams, the maitre chef des cuisines at Claridge's in London and a member of the Academy of Culinary Arts, has finished ninth in this year's Bocuse d'Or event, staged in Lyon on 23 and 24 January.
The biennial international competition, founded by legendary French master chef Paul Bocuse in 1987, has yet to be won by an Englishman, but Williams's placing is the country's highest to date. The winner was Francois Adamski of the Maison Prunier restaurant in Paris.
"It was a very tight competition and a couple of the judges marked me very highly," said Williams. "But there are great swings in marking and some judges didn't appreciate what I was putting out."
The 22 international finalists, each representing their country, were required to create and cook two free-interpretation dishes for 12 covers in five-and-a-half hours using a whole lamb and sea bass. Both of the dishes had to be presented in classic French style on a platter.
The chefs were split up into two groups that performed cook-offs over two days. Williams, who was drawn to cook fifth on the first day, served British lamb in two ways - by ballotining and stuffing the legs with a mixture of black pudding, foie gras and sweetbreads, and by creating a foie gras soufflé with which to coat the saddle cutlets.
Three garnishes accompanied the dish - a modern take on faggots made from the shoulder, a "hotpot-style" potato galette, and a parsnip tartlet.
The sea bass was roasted and served with butter almond lobster sauce and three garnishes comprising a chartreuse of French beans and cauliflower topped with a lobster beignet, a crisp roll of salsify with bacon and English Parmesan, and a fricassée of artichoke with amaretto.
Judging marks were divided into three equally weighted sections for presentation, innovation and taste, thus swinging the weight of marks towards the initial visual impact of the dishes.
"I think I might have lost it there," commented Williams. "We had spent a great deal of money on silver, but the guy that won had spent almost the same on just one dish."
He pointed out that the generous sponsorship that Adamski received had been a significant factor in his victory.
"I was told that he took six months out of service just to train," he said. "It will be crucial to have good sponsorship if England is going to win in the future. We've got to do things seriously."
Williams's own sponsors were a group of London-based suppliers including his butcher, Finclass, Allens of Mount Street, Bagatelle, Foreman & Son, Billingsgate-based fishmonger Chamberlain's, Grivan, and Covent Garden-based Linkplus.
"Without them, in honesty, I couldn't have moved," he said.
by Joanna Wood
