Some call it the Olympics, some call it the World Culinary Championship. The Bocuse d’Or, or Concours Mondial de la Cuisine, (World Cooking Contest), is undoubtedly the most prestigious cooking competition in the world. Named after the legendary French chef Paul Bocuse, the world chefs’ championship Bocuse d’Or organizes every two years within the framework of the SIRHA fair in Lyon, France. Since the first competition was organized in 1987, the teams prepared for the grand one-day finals, passing through tough eliminations in their own countries, a total of 70 countries, and then in continental competitions organized in Africa, America, Asia- Pacific and Europe, and the last 24 qualified teams compete in the World Cup. All the wear and tear is for the last five hours and 35 minutes, when the teams in the kitchen booths perform their culinary skills to prepare elaborate presentations.

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Bocuse d’Or 2023 was organized 22-23. January, and the gold was awarded to Danish chef Brian Mark Hansen from Søllerød Kro in Denmark. Almost a classic now, in recent years Scandinavian countries have largely shared the podium. They seem to be competing with each other, rather than the other countries, trying to hijack the top three spots.

This year turned out to be another close race between the Nordic countries, Denmark won the gold medal, Norway got silver, but Hungary made a surprise, getting bronze, leaving Sweden from the podium in fourth place and overtaking another strong contender France in fifth place. This year, Hungary pulled out and sort of entered the Nordic league, taking the bronze medal with chef Bencé Dalnoki, while some saw this as a surprise, for devoted followers of the competition it was an expected result. Hungary has worked very hard for many years. The first Hungarian chef to shine was Tamás Széll, a former European winner. Since then, Hungary has been dedicated to making its place and has proven that it now has a permanent place in world gastronomy.