Paul Bocuse is a French chef based in
Lyon who is famous for the high quality
of his restaurants and his innovative
approaches to cuisine. A student of
Eugénie Brazier, he is one of the most
prominent chefs associated with the
nouvelle cuisine, which is less opulent
and calorific than the traditional
cuisine classique, and stresses the
importance of fresh ingredients of the
highest quality. Paul Bocuse claimed
that Henri Gault first used the term,
nouvelle cuisine, to describe food
prepared by Bocuse and other top chefs
for the maiden flight of the Concorde
airliner in 1969.
Contribution to French gastronomy
Bocuse has made many contributions to
French gastronomy both directly and
indirectly, because he has had numerous
students, many of whom have become
famous chefs themselves. One of his
students was Austrian Eckart Witzigmann,
one of four Chefs of the Century and the
first German-speaking and the third
non-French-speaking chef to receive
three Michelin stars. Since 1987, the
Bocuse d'Or has been regarded as the
most prestigious award for chefs in the
world, and is sometimes seen as the
unofficial world championship for chefs.
Bocuse has received numerous awards
throughout his career, including the
medal of Commandeur de la Légion
d'honneur.
The Culinary Institute of America
honored Bocuse in their Leadership
Awards Gala on 30 March 2011. He has
received the "Chef of the Century"
award. On 4 July 2012, in the New York
Times the Culinary Institute of America
announced they will change the name of
their "Escoffier" Restaurant to the
"Bocuse" Restaurant, after a year-long
renovation.
In 1975, he created the world famous
soupe aux truffes for a presidential
dinner at the Elysée Palace. Since then,
the soup has been served in Bocuse's
restaurant near Lyon as Soupe V.G.E.,
V.G.E. being the initials of former
president of France Valéry Giscard
d'Estaing.
Restaurants
Bocuse's main restaurant is the luxury
restaurant l'Auberge du Pont de
Collonges, near Lyon, which has been
serving a traditional menu for decades.
It is one of a small number of
restaurants in France to receive the
coveted three-star rating by the
Michelin Guide. He also operates a chain
of brasseries in Lyon, named Le Nord,
l'Est, Le Sud and l'Ouest, each of which
specializes in a different aspect of
French cuisine. His son, Jérôme, manages
the Chefs de France restaurant inside
the French pavilion at Walt Disney
World's EPCOT.
Bocuse is considered an ambassador of
modern French Cuisine. He was honored in
1961 with the title Meilleur Ouvrier de
France. He had been apprenticed to
Fernand Point, a master of classic
French cuisine; and Bocuse dedicated his
first book to him.
Institute Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance
The Institute Paul Bocuse Worldwide
Alliance brings together 12 universities
in South Africa, United States, Peru,
Brazil, Canada, Japan, Guatemala,
Taiwan, Greece, Singapore, China,
Finland, Colombia and Ecuador. Each
university selects its best students to
follow a four-month intensive training
at the Institut Paul Bocuse in subjects
such as:
French Regional Cuisine
the arts de la table
wine selection
cheeses
French cooking terminology
pastry techniques
The only culinary Institute in the
United States with an agreement with
Institut Paul Bocuse is the Chef John
Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls
State University. The only culinary
school in Canada with an agreement with
the Institut Paul Bocuse is Red River
College in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
References
External links
Paul Bocuse's Official site
Photos of Le Sud
Bocuse d'Or Official site
[1]
Institut Paul Bocuse
