After major investments in a bid to restore its lost national culinary prestige, France savoured victory Tuesday at the world's most prestigious international cooking competition, the Bocuse d'Or. Paul Marcon, son of the former winner Regis Marcon, clinched the title late on Monday in France's gastronomic capital Lyon, 30 years after his much-garlanded father. The biennial event, which takes places in front of a boisterous live audience, was founded in by late French cooking legend Paul Bocuse.
Having seen Scandinavian countries dominate over the last decade, France's team has professionalised and attracted funding from public authorities and private donors in a sign of the importance of the title for national identity.
It's a source of pride to take France to the top again," a visibly emotional Marcon, 29, told reporters on Monday evening after being hoisted onto the shoulders of his colleagues in his chef's whites.
In total, 24 countries competed in the edition, with the Danish team, winners of the last edition, taking silver and Sweden the bronze medal. Marcon and his team wowed the judging panel with a pie filled with deer braised in red wine, foie gras and wild mushrooms, accompanied by celery and followed by apple flavoured with French liqueur Chartreuse.
The quality of cooking on display at the Bocuse d'Or is seen by observers as increasing every year as countries invest in their delegations for national marketing purposes or to raise the profile of their gastronomic traditions. France has won just one medal in the last decade -- Davy Tissot having clinched gold in -- with Scandinavian nations maintaining a grip on the top positions with their precise, minimalist and environmentally-conscious cooking. Until Monday's victory by Marcon, the United States -- whose food the French have long looked down on -- had won more medals than France over the last 10 years.
