A foot in the Bocuse d’Or

Malaysia’s first entry into the Olympics of French gastronomy is led by Westin chef Farouk Othman.

FOR the first time in history, Malaysia has made it to the foothills of that pinnacle of French cuisine, the Bocuse d’Or.

The team responsible for making it happen consists of: the contender and Westin Chef Tournant Farouk Othman; his assistant, or commis chef, Shamsul Bahari; team coach, Westin Kuala Lumpur director of kitchens David King; team promotions manager, Westin KL communications director Tiang Li Ming; and team leader, Bocuse Malaysia president Federico Michieletto.

Their journey began with Farouk’s nomination by the Malaysian Cooking Association (MCA) to represent Malaysia at the Continental selection phase, the first ever Bocuse d’Or Asia, which took place in Shanghai, China, in May.

“Basically, there was a call for entries and the MCA picked Farouk because he could best represent and contend,” says King.

In Shanghai, the challenge was to design a novel dish focusing on salmon with two garnishes or sides. Their answer was a trio of salmon en brioche (literally, “in a bun”), salmon with soft quail egg and pepper crust and warm asparagus jelly with basil foam.

After creating the dish, Farouk and King reckon they prepared it more than 100 times in their own time, first to refine it and then to practise scaling up for the quantities required by the competition – 12 servings for 12 judges.

To everyone’s surprise, not least of all the team themselves – this was, after all, their virgin attempt – they came in second behind Japan, beating Singapore and South Korea. All four will go on to compete in Lyon over the two days of intense competition, which began yesterday.

“It’s a dream come true. This is one of the biggest events and an enormous achievement for me,” says Farouk, who has bagged metal at competitions like the Malaysian Salon Culinaire 2007 and MLA Black Box Culinary Challenge.

Beating the clock

For the 2009 Bocuse d’Or, the two main ingredients are premium beef and seafood. Each team will be provided with four cuts of Aberdeen Angus beef (tenderloin, cheek, tail and prime rib) and a box of Norwegian seafood (wild or farmed cod, shrimp and diver scallops).

Each competitor and his assistant will have just five hours to prepare 28 separate portions of two main dishes accompanied by three garnishes or sides each from scratch, 12 to go to the panel of 12 judges, and two to be displayed and photographed.

Each dish is judged on presentation and taste in a two-stage process. First, the 28 portions are loaded onto a giant, silver presentation platter and paraded for about three minutes before the panel. Then, the portions are plated by professional restaurant managers for the judges to taste them.

Apart from the sponsored main ingredients, competing teams have to source all their other ingredients at their own expense (competing teams operate on corporate sponsorship just like Formula One teams), for which the annual Lyon culinary trade fair that takes place just prior to and in conjunction with the competition provides the perfect opportunity.

In fact, the Bocuse d’Or was originally conceived by culinary living legend Paul Bocuse and Albert Romain, director of Lyon’s Parc des Expositions, as a finishing touch to the fair. Since 1987, it has taken place every two years.

This year, 24 teams from the Bocuse d’Or Europe, Copa Azteca (Latin American) and Bocuse d’Or Asia continental selections, plus teams that qualify automatically by virtue of participating in the previous competition, will meet to compete in the 12th instalment.

With a litle help

“Good cooking is not possible alone. You need good assistants,” says Michelin-starred chef and Bocuse d’Or Europe president Eyvind Hellstrّm, speaking in an exclusive interview with The Star.

“In Bocuse d’Or, the competing chef needs to bring the best assistant possible. The better he is, the better the result,” adds the Norwegian masterchef.

Hellstrّm was in Singapore to present a promotional Norwegian seafood menu at the St. Regis Hotel and to conduct a special preparatory workshop for the competing Malaysian and Singaporean teams organised by the Norwegian Seafood Export Council, one of the Bocuse sponsors.

Such is the importance of the relationship that it will be officially recognised at this year’s competition with the introduction of the special prize for Best Assistant, which 21-year-old Shamsul will be aiming for.

Bocuse d’Or regulations require that competing assistants be under the age of 22, which isn’t as tender as it seems, according to Hellstrّm.

“In Europe, good chefs start their training very early – at the age of 15 to 18. So by the time you’re 21, you can be quite experienced.

“You can be as skilled as the competing chef. Very often, we see chefs competing at the age of 25. Almost every year the winning chef is more or less 30. It seems to be the golden age.”

Good news then for Farouk, who is, coincidentally, 30.

When he began looking for a competition assistant amongst the younger Westin kitchen staff, Shamsul jumped at the chance.

As an assistant chef, Shamsul is used to taking orders in kitchens. Now four years into his fledgling career, he is ready to get more creative.

In the two months leading up to the competition, the team have spent at least 20 hours a week preparing their competition menu, adding hours as the final date drew near.

While competitors from other countries who receive more lucrative sponsorship, can afford to train full-time for the competition (Hellstrّm estimates the Norwegian team annual budget at about S$300,000 or about RM735,000), Team Malaysia juggled training with their day jobs.

But they have vowed to do Malaysia proud.

“On the day, we will be armed with our nicely sharpened knives, shiny silver trays, and hearts pumping like a thousand horses on the run. We will perform nothing below than perfection in Lyon!” promises Farouk.