Written By Anya Levykh Awards / Chefs / Edibles / Folks Feb 25, 2013 Chef Alex Chen Places 9th in the World in Bocuse D’Or SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Left: Chef Chen in his test kitchen practicing. Right: roasted beef tenderloin with bone marrow roulade, seared foie gras, black trumpet mushrooms, oxtail gratin and shaved black truffles. VANCOUVER / FRANCEIf you’ve never heard of the Bocuse d’Or, you’re not that interested in food. This worldwide professional cooking competition is held every two years in Lyon, France and pits 24 chefs from 24 countries around the world. Team Canada this year was represented by Chef Alex Chen, a homegrown talent who is the former executive chef of the Beverly Hills Hotel, and is currently Culinary Architect for Moxie’s Grill (the latter is the title sponsor for Team Canada). At a media preview a few days before Chen left for Lyon, we tried dishes similar to what he had planned for the big day. Each chef must prepare two dishes, a fish dish and a meat dish, within an eight-hour window. The competition is incredibly fierce and chefs routinely train and prepare for several years to compete. Some ingredients are mandatory, such as the fish used in the seafood dish this year. The chefs only find out what the required ingredients are one month before the competition, which leaves little time to prepare. Roasted bone in turbot with butter poached lobster saffron potatoes, lobster hollandiase, cauliflower puree, lobster vinaigretteChef Chen’s first dish was roasted bone-in turbot with saffron potatoes, butter poached lobster, lobster hollandaise, cauliflower purée, and lobster vinaigrette. For the second dish, which must feature meat, Chef Chen made roasted beef tenderloin with bone marrow roulade, seared foie gras, black trumpet mushrooms, oxtail gratin and shaved black truffles. It may sound like an explosion of richness guaranteed to induce apoplexy, but Chen is a master with flavour and balance. The richness of the turbot and lobster is set off by the clean simplicity of the puree and the pleasant sourness of the vinaigrette. The tenderloin was less well-balanced, but the sheer pleasure of inhaling copious amounts of marrow, foie gras and truffle overrode all concerns about cholesterol levels. After all, no one said the Bocuse was a heart-healthy competition. And judging by Chen’s excellent placing (ninth in the world), the judges didn’t mind either. Congratulations to Chef Chen and his team! Chef Alex Chen (far right) and his team.alex chenBocuse D’OrCanadaFrancemoxies SHARE VIA: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Written By: Anya Levykh Anya Levykh was born on the shores of the Black Sea, in what was formerly the USSR. The cold, Communist winters were too much for her family, and, before she was four feet tall, they had left for warmer climes in the south of ... Read More You may also like Awards / Drink People / Events / Wine Events / Wine News October 15, 2020 SOMM SMACKDOWN—Rumble at Aura Waterfront Restaurant Strange, interesting, and wonderful things can happen in odd times, and there is no stranger time than now, but something needed to be done to pay ... Read More Awards / Drink People / Press Release / San Francisco / Spirits / Victoria April 5, 2019 deVine Gin Tops Category, Earns Double Gold at San Francisco Competition Vancouver Island’s deVine Wines & Spirits was delighted to learn its Genever Gin won the Genever category, and a Double Gold medal, at the ... Read More Awards / Press Release November 6, 2018 Taste Canada Award Winners 2018 Press Release: Fort Berens Estate Winery Ltd is pleased to announce the appointment of Bill Pierson of the Vintage Consulting Group as their new ... Read More Awards / Causes November 13, 2016 Gold Medal Plates BC To Take Place Nov. 17 in Victoria GOLD MEDAL PLATES B.C’s COMPETING CHEFS FOR 2016! Victoria – 2016 is an Olympic year and B.C.’s Gold Medal Plates will be celebrating ... Read More Awards / Chefs October 31, 2014 Gold Medal Plates (Victoria) 2014 Winners Last night a sold out crowd at the Victoria Conference Centre dined on dishes prepared by some of the top chefs in British Columbia. The occasion was ... Read More Awards / Elsewhere / Restaurants October 23, 2014 Wolf in the Fog Named enRoute’s Best New Restaurant of 2014 Wolf in the Fog is honoured to be named Air Canada enRoute’s 2014 Canada’s Best New Restaurant by Air Canada’s award-winning in-flight ... Read More Comments are closed.
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