Australian chefs are invited to enter the Bocuse d’Or Australian Selection, being held at Foodservice Australia in Melbourne on 30 May, 2017.
The winner of the Australian Selection and their commis will represent Australia at the Bocuse d’Or Asia Pacific in 2018. If placed in the top five of this competition, they will go on to compete in Bocuse d’Or 2019 in Lyon, against 23 other teams from around the world.
This year’s competition in Lyon saw the Australian candidate Dan Arnold and his commis Ryan Cosentino placed 8th, the highest rank Australia has achieved in 30 years of the competition.
To enter, chefs must hold an Australian passport and be 23 or older by January 2019. They must submit an entry form at www.bocusedoraustralia.com.au and upload recipes and photos for two dishes using mandatory ingredients. Four chefs and their commis will be selected by a panel to compete for over five hours in front of a live audience.
This year Philippe Mouchel is stepping down as president of Bocuse d’Or Australia, although he will remain a judge at the Australian Selection. Tom Milligan, executive chef at Atlantic Group, will step up from vice president to take on the president’s role.
“This is a milestone year for Bocuse d’Or Australia,” said Milligan. “We kicked off 2017 with an outstanding performance in Lyon; now the Australian Selection is being held at a national trade exhibition for the first time, with state of the art kitchens surrounded by stadium seating at the centre of the show.”
As a previous Bocuse d’Or candidate, Milligan said that entering the Australian Selection is not for the faint-hearted. “It is a big commitment to training and competing over the next two years,” he said. “Therefore at the Australian Selection we are not just assessing the flair, flavour and presentation of their dishes, we actually more interested in their composure under pressure, their kitchen organisational skills and their interaction with their commis chef.”