On June 24 and 25, Elior Group organized its first International Chefs Competition bringing together sixteen of its chefs from across the globe. This event not only served as an opportunity for the Group to showcase the profession of chef but also to highlight the universal dimension of cooking. It was also the first stage towards building an international community of chefs in a bid to foster culinary and cultural exchange.

The 16 chefs hailing from France, India, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States worked for two days in three teams, each of which was assigned the task of using fresh and seasonal produce to prepare either a starter, a main dish or a dessert. The Group’s top 120 managers then tasted and rated each dish on the following aspects: presentation, taste and recipe originality.

 

The three-course competition menu comprised:

  • A starter: Asparagus Extravaganza -  creamed asparagus and leeks in a coconut curry sauce
  • A main dish : Risotto Manet - creamed rice,  gambero rosso brick with fresh goat cheese spiced with basil and cardamom
  • A dessert: Strawberry and Wasabi Cloud - trilogy of strawberries, white chocolate ganache and wasabi-flavored shortbread.

Arpège chef and culinary coordinator of the Group’s first International Chefs Competition, Jimmy Lejeune declared: “This competition proved that there is room for expression for all gastronomic specialties and provided a platform for all of the chefs to share their passion for cooking. Overseeing a multi-national team of 16 chefs so that they could create these recipes was not particularly easy. It ended up being a great human adventure and by working together we rose to meet the challenge!”

The winners of the competition were the six chefs belonging to the “starter” team. The five-nationality winning team drew on the savoir-faire and specific cultural features of its members to create an original and tasty gourmet recipe.

This first edition of the International Chefs Competition enabled the Group to bring together a group of its contract catering and concession catering chefs who, together, offered a wide range of culinary traditions. Promoting the work of its chefs and pooling their different cultures fosters the exchange of best culinary practices, which is the first step towards creating an internal network of chefs.