Asian chefs prepare for global championships in France. The global championships are going to be held in France during this month.  This year many Asian teams are aiming to make it to the global chef championships. The global championships are named as Bocuse d’Or, and they are considered to be world’s top culinary competition.
 

This competition was started in 1987 by legendary French chef Paul Bocuse. Paul Bocuse is revered as the father of "nouvelle cuisine" and is the owner of L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, which is counted amongst one of the honored restaurants around France. This competition is held every two years and is popularly known as "World Cuisine Contest."
 

The global championships is organized as two-day competition at Lyon France and is the main attraction of Salon International de la Restauration, de l'Hôtellerie et de l'Alimentation—Sirha—which refers to hotel and catering extravaganza. This cooking extravaganza attracts thousands of chefs and public visitors across the globe. These global championships were organized the last time in 2009. It was attended by 15000 visitors. The first prize was awarded to Norweign chef Geir Skeie who took away the prize amount of €20,000, or about $26,000.
 

This year, global championships are going to be held on Jan. 25 and 26. More than 50 international television networks are vying for the space to broadcast this extravaganza and dozens of cameras will roll out to capture every minute of action at the championship.
 

The past 12 winners were from Europe. Six winners were from France, four from Norway, and one each from Luxemburg and Norway.  The Asian presence was observed only once in 1989, when the William Wai from Singapore won the bronze medal at the competition.  But the judges believe that Asian teams will have lot more to offer than the previous years. 
 

Asian dining scene has undergone drastic changes since last decade. It has been observed that more and more Asians are migrating to Europe and America in pursuit of wealth and prosperity. They not only take with them their cultural values but also capture the essence of the western dining culture. Some of them came back to their lands to take up cooking as a full time passion. Over the past few years many of the celebrity chefs like Pierre Gagnaire, Guy Savoy,and Daniel Boulud have migrated to Asia to start their own eateries. The Asian dining landscape is now getting more interesting with the increasing number of wealthy customers.  This difference of shift can be noticed in all spheres. The Michelin Guide acknowledged this shift by introducing the city guide books of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kyoto, and Macau. Tokyo is home to 11 three star –Michelin restaurants.
 

The semifinals of the Bocuse d'Or Asia was held in Shanghai. 11 teams from the Asian countries competed with each other to make it to the finals of the global chef championships.  The competition was held only for a day where the contestants were given three hours to prepare a single platter featuring Sterling White Halibut. Atlast the teams from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan qualified for the finals. The Japanese team has competed in every global championship whereas the other teams are the new comers. Chinese team has been there 5 times, Malaysia thrice and Indonesia twice.
 

We do wish these Asian Teams all the best to shine at the global championships.

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