Bonjour Lyon! I am here for the food!

 Lyon is France's Gastronomic Capital 

I came to Lyon to attend the SIRHA: Salon International de la Restauration, de l'Hotellerie et de l'Allimentation.

SIRHA organized the most important event this year by putting as many experts together to discuss the future of food at The World Cuisine Summit. The Manifesto of the World Food Summit is
"Better food service for better life". As a chef, I am truly inspired to promote higher quality food, sustainability and education on eating habits. The key point for the future is responsible management of natural and human resources.

"SIRHA is really the major world event."

Every two years in Lyon, it is at SIRHA, where new trends are tested and showcased. This is where new innovations are introduced. This is where the inspiration on the consumer plates come from.
There were 185,450 visitors this year, 23,409 of them came from 138 countries. There were 18,705 chefs from 86 countries and there were 2,809 exhibitors. The information coming from SIRHA is unquestionably overwhelming. I personally, benefitted a lot from this experience. However, to be able to share this information, I would have to do it a morsel at a time.

Bocuse d'Or

Created in 1987 by Paul Bocuse, held every two years in Lyon, the Bocuse d'Or is the olympic of world gastronomy. 24 chefs representing their countries compete to showcase their techniques and creativity to win the most prestigious statuette. This is the ultimate competition of the best chefs in the world.

 

The winning fish dish from Norway. 

The star of the fish competition was red label turbot and European blue lobster. The garnishes must represent the tradition and culture of the chef's country.

The winning meat platter from the UK.

The main ingredient of the meat competition was the fillet of beef certified quality from the Irish pastures

with chuck, cheek and tail.

Japan won the Bronze 

Denmark won the Silver

France won the Bocuse d'Or

The winners of the Bocuse d'Or 2013

All the chefs who competed were all winners. These chefs are the hardest working chefs in the world. To be able to represent their countries in this momentous competition require serious commitment and rigorous training. I was cheering for the Canadian Team: Chef Alex Chen, whom, I had the pleasure of working with at the Four Seasons, Toronto 13 years ago and his apprentice Jack Beers, whom I briefly worked with at the Langdon Hall in Cambridge. They garnered the 9th place. Congratulations!

Chef Alex Chen

Jack Beers, a young chef with a bright future.

Canada's fish course

Canada's meat platter

Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie

In the same style of the Bocuse d'Or, the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie is the most demanding competition in the world. In 1989, this competition was created by Gabriel Paillason, a pastry chef from Lyon and a founding member of the SIRHA. This year 22 teams competed for 10 hours to prepare three chocolate desserts, three fruit frozen desserts, twelve plated desserts, and three showpieces: one in chocolate, sugar and sculpted hydric ice.  The competition aims to discover different culinary cultures, products and unique combinations defined by the customs from different regions and countries.

 France won the Gold

 Plated dessert from team France

 Japan won the Silver

Italy won the Bronze 

It was an extraordinary experience to be at this world event. The Sirha on its 30th year, was a big success. It was an excellent promotion to improve understanding on better food service for better life.

Sources:

Pictures are borrowed  from Sirha website

Côz Magazine/La Gastronomy

Saveur Marines/ Les Perles du Sirha

World Cuisine Summit