The third edition Chaine des Rotisseurs’
‘Concours de I’Inde des Jeunes Chefs Rotisseurs (JCR) 2017’, which literally
translates, an interesting competition for professional young chefs (Young
Chefs competition) happened at The Lalit Ashok, Bangalore recently. The purpose
of this competition is to encourage and promote the culinary expertise of young
chefs in the tradition of the Chaine des Rotisseurs by creating a competitive
environment with their peers. This competition offers the opportunity for the
Jeunes Chefs worldwide to showcase their talents and creativity in an
international platform.
PC: Chetan Kamani |
La Chaine is the world’s oldest gastronomic
society which is unique in many ways and its first Bailliage in India was
started in Bangalore many years ago.
A little bit history about ‘Chaine des Rotisseurs’
The origins of the Chaine des Rotisseurs
stem back to the ‘Middle Ages’ when the first Guilds were formed in Europe. It
was these Guilds which were largely responsible for the birth and the
flourishing of arts and included music, literature, architecture, painting,
sculpture and theatre. The culinary arts featured prominently among them and
which was promoted by the Guild of Spit-
Roasters – ‘Les Ayeurs’. This Guild was
constituted in 1248 by St.Louis, King of France. Even the logo is interesting
with two crossed turning spits and four larding needles, surrounded by the
flames of the hearth, on a shield encircled by a Fleur-de-lis and chain. The
chain represents the mechanism used to turn the spit. The outer chain along
with the membership consisted of Apprentices, Companions and Masters who
received their titles after presenting their masterpiece to the Elders. The
Guild of “Les Ayeurs” was given the
special privilege of roasting geese which were a particularly appreciated meat
at that time. The Guild continued to develop until 1789 but together with all
the Guilds, it was dissolved during the French Revolution.
In 1950 three gastronomes – Cumonsky, Prince-elect of Gastronomes – Dr Auguste Becart
and Jean Valby teamed with two professional Chefs, Louis Giraudin and Marcek
Darin and founded “Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs” which is now
established over 80 countries with 25K + members. A little bit of history I got
to know from a dear friend of mine and food connoisseur, Chetan Kamani. He
actively participates in ‘Chaine des Rotisseurs’ events.
This competition is for young Chefs up to 27 years of age with less than 5 years of professional experience. I visited each stall to witness the amazing dishes all the 15 participants prepared. Each contestant had to prepare a fabulous 3-course meal in less than 3.5 hours.
This year’s judging panel had renowned Chefs from
Bangalore’s culinary scene - Chef Manu Chandra, Chef Nimish Bhatia, Chef Goutham Balasubramanian and Chef Jean Micheal
Jasserand. The Judge of honour for the competition, was Prasobsook ‘Joe’
Thawilvejjakul - Member des Conseils Magistral & Bailli Délégué Honoraire, Bailliage National de Thailand who
came for the Grand Chapitre weekend.
Ruma Singh - Vice Chargée de Presse |
Aslam Gafoor - Vice Chargé de Missions |
Along with the judging panel, the people
behind the scenes; who actually executed this event well were - Aslam Gafoor -
Vice Chargé de Missions, Rishad R
Minocher -Bailli Délégué, Vikram Udayagiri - Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, Bailliage
de l'Inde, Bhaskaran Menon – GM, The Lalit Ashok, Sandhya Nair from The Lalit
Ashok and the lovely lady Ruma Singh - Vice Chargée de Presse.
The winners from the India finals held at
The Lalit Ashok, Bangalore–
PC: Sunil Mark |
PC: Sunil Mark |
1st Prize (Gold Medal) – Chef
Soni Kumari Rana from ITC Windsor
(Mentor Chef – Chef Uchit Vohra)
2nd Prize (Silver Medal) – Chef Vetri
Palani from The Leela Palace
(Mentor Chef – Chef Mir Zafar Ali)
3rd Prize (Bronze Medal) – Chef Vipin
Dev from The Leela Palace
(Mentor Chef – Chef Mir Zafar Ali)
The winner, Chef Soni Kumari Rana will be
representing India in the international finals to be held in Frankfurt, Germany
on 8th September 2017 where country winners from 25 Chaine member
countries will compete for top honours.
As a food blogger, it was an honour to be a part of this event. The Lalit
Ashok team hosted the event brilliantly and which is a better venue than The Lalit Ashok Hotel’s lush green lawn by
enjoying some lip-smacking food and beverages from the Lalit Food truck. It was
truly a perfect place to spend a summer day.
First Agro Team |
There was also a grand spread of food by
The Lalit Ashok along with wines from Four Season. The official partners and sponsors
of this event were – The Lalit Ashok (Event and Hospitality partner), Paul John
Single Malt Whisky (Prime Award partner), Four Seasons (Pouring partner), Le
Cordon Bleu (Award Partner), Lausanne Hospitality Consulting (Award Partner),
First Agro (Ingredient Partner), Big Basket (Ingredient Partner), Aquamarine
Speciality Seafood (Ingredient Sponsor), Jivabhumi (Ingredient Sponsor), and 18
Herbs (Ingredient Sponsor). It was pleasure meeting some of the known faces from Bangalore - Bhaskaran Menon, Chef Nimish Bhatia, Chef Anupam Banerjee, Chef Mir Zafar Ali, Chef Naren Thimmaiah, Aslam Gafoor, Soham Shoney, Misha Dave, Sunil Mark, and Swamyboo Nameet :)
Thanks to dear Ruma Singh and Sandhya Nair for
inviting me to JCR 2017 <3
To know more, check out - http://www.chainedesrotisseurs.com/
Follow me on Facebook - You gotta try it
Zomato- Yougottatryit
Twitter- Soumya_Gopi
Instagram- soumyagopi
Twitter- Soumya_Gopi
Instagram- soumyagopi
For any queries or feedback, call +91-9886771173 or send a mail to afoodiestrail@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment