The Hungarian team, headed by Tamas Szell, made it to the Bocuse d'Or, thought of as the Chefs' Olympics, for the first time this year. The idea of Bocuse d'Or came from Paul Bocuse in 1985 and it has been the most prestigious chef competition in the world ever since. At the competition chefs are given five hours and thirty five minutes to prepare two courses on 14 plates each (one fish and one meat dish) with three side dishes for each course. Teams are made up of a chef and a commis chef. The chef must be older than 23 while the commis chef must be under 22. The third member of the team, the trainer, who is responsible for preparing the team of two, cannot be present in the kitchen during the competition. It is a basic requirement of the competition that everything must be made from fresh, there and then. The basic ingredients are set, all competitors must use the same ingredients. This year as well as turbot, there  was free range Irish beef offered as the main ingredient. Each team is also required to introduce some national characteritics through the dish to represent their own country.

The panel of judges is made up of 24 renowned chefs, split into two teams, one judging the fish dish, the other the meat. Two-thirds of the total points are awarded for the quality of the dish (this can be 40 points), one-third is given for presentation, and a further 20 points for teamwork, hygiene throughout the cooking process and how economically the chef uses the ingredients. The chef with the highest total score is awareded the Bocuse d'Or throphy.

 This competition, held in Lyon, is a world event which mobilizes crowds of people and where we can support the teams and follow the programme in the company of thousands of fanatic fans. I cheered for the team next to the Norwegian and Japanese fans together with a small but loud Hungarian group of fans.

The Hungarian qualifying event for the 2015 Bocuse d'Or competition is the Tradition and Evolution competition, the European qualifying event will be held in Sweden.

Naturally, as usual, I'll be present as one of the judges on the panel at the Tradition and Evolution competitions.