Bocuse Is Loose!

    I promised I would elaborate on all things culinary that have unfolded the past week weeks and now I'm going to deliver (shipping and handling included).

yeezzz...but of course!

    A few weeks ago my school held the 3rd ever Bocuse d'or USA competition which determines the American representative team that will compete in the Bocuse d'or competition held in Lion, France every two years. Being the "Harvard of culinary schools" our school can do things like that, and yours can't (sorry Johnson & Whales). Days before the event, students, faculty, chefs, and the like all chattered amongst themselves about the second coming of our savior Paul Bocuse and his monumental culinary competition. Our skills chef made it very clear that "it was extremely important that all students attend the competition" while also remembering to season the hell out of their food (tis the season)...Photos and full analysis after the jump.
    

    I apologize in advance for the quality of these pictures. Most of them were taken spontaneously from my 12 mega-pixel camera phone (my dad is shaking his head right now) but nonetheless you can get the idea of how epic this competition was. A little background: 4 teams with one chef, commis, and culinary student helper per team. two dishes: cod, and chicken each with their own garnishes and separate components/methods. Team 3, the winning team was Chef Richard Rosendale from the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. I'll post the link to Greenbrier's website rather than post a picture of it (holy sensory overload Batman!) What I believe to be the clincher for chef Rosendale was his chicken dish--a deconstructed chicken reassembled inside of a Mr. Potato head toy...yes you read that correctly. 

    Chef Rosendale cut the Mr. Potato head in half lengthwise and lined the inside of it with the reserved chicken skin and stuffed it with alternating layers of chicken and sausage then put the two halves together, duct tapped the whole thing and cooked it sous-vide (a cooking method of submerging a food in a temperature specific water bath for a period of time to yield a tender perfectly cooked food. Since it is cooked in a bag submerged in water, no flavor or juices are lost the way they would be from grilling and what not). 

    Word on the street is that Rosendale and his commis practiced this exact competition to the absolute T over 7 times before competing here on campus and the Mr. Potato Head was his son's toy. A "homage" to his son and the final nail in the coffin. Absolutely remarkable.

 http://www.greenbrier.com/

    Also a point worth noting: chef Rosendale's culinary helper was none other than CIA's own and great friend of mine, Leah Pfeiffer infamously known as "TOURNE GIRL" (see tourne girl post for details)

All these people better follow my blog after this...

    The panel of judges for the competition included but is not limited to: Grant Achatz, CIA President Tim Ryan, Thomas Keller, Jerome Bocuse (son of founder Paul Bocuse seen above), and Daniel Boulud. Ill post a separate entry talking about all the famous chefs I got to meet the day before. Until then, be good.