PICTURES. Cooking like on a yacht, a real culinary challenge
Nine superyacht leaders competed during a competition organized by the Yacht Club of Monaco on April 7th.
The atmosphere was electric at the Yacht Club de Monaco. It is here that nine superyacht chefs, eight men and one woman, competed in a competition supervised by chef Joël Garault and interpreted by an exceptional jury.
The principle is simple: the candidates, drawn by lot, go in groups of three. Their mission: to concoct a dish of their invention, from mysterious ingredients unveiled the same day, in just 40 minutes. The goal is to use as much food as possible, to avoid any food waste. A competition placed under the sign of tension, where the cameras are trained on the chefs, who must at all costs impress the jury, made up of five great chefs and an ambassador from the Moët Hennessy group.
Another challenge: cooking in the conditions of a yacht. In other words: count only on specific equipment (in particular without gas), on a small surface, in a short time and with a limited number of foodstuffs. Because on the open sea, there is no question of going shopping at the last minute. It is therefore necessary to be creative to develop a recipe with specific products, and it is precisely on this point that the candidates were evaluated.
” It’s like when we come home at night, we open the fridge and we see what we have left to cookexplains chef Nicolas Sale, president of the jury. It’s very interesting to see them evaluate in just 40 minutes and manage to prepare four plates. It’s spontaneous cooking, it’s not easy. »
But contrary to what one might think, it is not the inspiration that is lacking when the candidates discover the contents of the basket. For Palmire Leblanc, the only woman in the competition, and head of the Dayboat, the main anxiety is the clock! ” This is the first time that I have taken part in such a competition. I was stressed about not finishing on time. Fortunately, I immediately had the inspiration “, she confides to us after her visit.
The young woman effectively knew how to ignore the hustle and bustle around her, to prepare her potato emulsion, grated cauliflower, parsley, coriander and garlic butter, seared scallops and olive brunoise, kumquat and tomatoes in less than an hour. A very good performance which unfortunately was not enough to make it to the final.
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But for Nicolas Sale, this competition must remain benevolent and the scores between the chefs were quite close: “ They are all good candidates, it’s always difficult to make a choice, it’s very tight. It’s a real “battle.” “For us, the objective is also to identify candidates who may not have gone all the way this time around, but who have potential. »
At the end of the final, it’s Nicolas Petit, chef of the attitude and the only Frenchman still in competition against his two opponents, who won the prestigious distinction. The day ended in a good mood, where jury and candidates were able to discuss this unique experience!