Double European champion Christian André Pettersen led the Norwegian team this year in the fight to reach the top of the world’s most prestigious cooking competition, Bocuse d’Or.
During the finals, Petterson got a bronze medal for Norway. Here’s the story of his journey.
Overall, Norway tops the medal statistics in the competition, and Pettersen is considered one of the country’s most deserving competition chefs in the last 15 years. This year was the second time he participated in the world final.
The competition finals took place in Lyon, France, on September 26 and 27. A total of 23 countries qualified to compete.
A new pandemic-inspired dish
This year, the plated dish was replaced with a three-course takeaway menu in a first for the competition.
The takeaway was included as a tribute to how the industry coped with challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. It also aimed to show how takeaway can be solved with world-class gastronomy.
“This change in the competition and the rules obviously creates special challenges for all participants and increases the excitement in the competition,” Kulturmeglerne wrote in a press release.
The chefs used pre-determined ingredients from Lyon. For example, tomatoes were used in both starters, main courses, and desserts, while a piece of beef from local cattle was selected for the main dish.
First, a postponement
Bocuse d’Or was initially scheduled to take place in January this year.
But, it had to be postponed twice due to the pandemic. Not that that seemed to sway Norway’s much-awarded chef Pettersen…
Pettersen has previously been named Chef of the Year twice. He won Bocuse ‘Or Europe in 2018 and took bronze in the world final the following year. In 2020, he once again took gold in the European competition of Bocuse d’Or.
The Norwegian team was coached by Geir Skeie, who himself has a background as both European champion and world champion in the competition. Pettersen’s most important assistant, also called commis, was Even Sørum (23).
A commis is a young talent under the age of 23 who is in the competition kitchen with the candidate and can participate in and carry out all operations during the competition. Sørum also participated as a commis in the European final last year.
And the bronze prize this year went to…
Norway and chef Petterson!
Read more about the competition’s final results for 2021 here.
Source: ©️ NTB Scanpix / #NorwayTodayTravel
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