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For the first time in history, a Colombian team has made it to the finals of the most important gastronomic contest in the world: the Bocuse d’Or.

 

This renowned competition was created by Paul Bocuse, one of the best chefs in history. Since 1987, it has been held every two years in the city of Lyon, France.

 

To participate in this competition, candidates must submit their application, then are subjected to a rigorous study by the board of directors and are then submitted to a national qualifying round. The winner of this qualifier travels to Mexico to appear in a continental qualifier, where all the American teams participate.

 

Meet Team Colombia

 

To guarantee the participation of the Colombian team, criteria such as: professional career, passion for French gastronomy and culinary mystique were taken into account. Without a doubt, Colombia has some worthy representatives!

 

The team is made up by chef Federico Trujillo, president of Bocuse d’Or Colombia; Mónica Ríos, who is in charge of advising the team on product development, and chef Carlos Pájaro and his commis, Andrés Ahumada, who will be in charge of staging. [1]However, the support team is made up of 18 kitchen professionals.

 

The path they have chosen requires a lot of discipline, but it has been a very rewarding experience for this Colombian team. They have been in preparations for two years, but these last six months have been especially rigorous, in order to meet the requirements demanded by the competition.

 

Gastronomic proposal

 

Team Colombia developed a rigorous study of the form and tastes of the contest, subtly involving Latin ingredients but without losing the focus on French cuisine and the importance of the details.

 

Among the Colombian ingredients that will be part of the menu is the mambe, used by our indigenous people; the Amazonian tucupi, rich in umami flavors, and cocoa, in its transformation to chocolate, which has required laboratory work with experts from the National Chocolates Company and Cordillera Chocolates to achieve the desired result.

 

Undoubtedly, the factors that will most impress the judges are the handling of techniques, the proper and appropriate use of local products, creative development and the plating that the team has designed.

 

For chef Carlos Pájaro, it is a true honor and a great historical responsibility to participate in this contest, being the first Colombian to qualify for the contest, thus opening the doors for all Colombian chefs who aspire to participate in future editions.

 

This year, the contest will be held on September 26 and 27 and Team Colombia will be participating on the 26th at 9:24 a.m. French time.

 

This team will five everything they have in the kitchen to represent the country. As official team sponsors, we invite you to join the streaming at the Bocuse d’Or page (https://www.bocusedor.com/en) to attend the competition.

 

There is no doubt that Team Colombia will make history at Bocuse d’OR 2021.