Winners of the Prestigious Gastronomic Championship Bocuse d’Or Georgia Revealed

On November 3, the 11th pavilion of the Expo Georgia Convention Center hosted the final of the largest gastronomic championship Bocuse d’Or for the first time.

The large-scale national gastronomic competition was aimed at revealing the winners among eight teams, who will travel to Estonia to participate in Bocuse d’Or Europe in 2020. If they are successful, Georgia will participate in the Bocuse d’Or Grand Finale in 2021, in France, where finalists from 24 countries will strive to win the highest award – the Bocuse d’Or.

The winner of the Bocuse d’Or Georgia 2019 was Erik Sarkisyan, an emerging chef who prepared a dish titled “Tenderloin of 3 Techniques and a Seasonal Garnish.” He received the highest rankings from a jury consisting of eight renowned chefs.

Sarkisyan will compete in the European Continental Tournament in Tallinn in 2020 on behalf of Georgia.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect a victory in this competition,” Sarkisyan told GEORGIA TODAY. “The only goal I had was to prepare the perfect dish and I was totally focused on this task. In future, we will have to work even harder, as we will participate in the European Continental Championships in Tallinn in 2020. Well-known chefs do amazing things with food there, preparing inimitable dishes. We need to work harder and even more enthusiastically now. The dish that I prepared for the final of Bocuse d’Or Georgia wasn’t easy but there will be more challenges in future, we will have to compete with highly qualified professionals in 2020, and we need to get ready for it.”

Chef Gabriel Tsiklauri came in second place at the Bocuse d’Or Georgia 2019 with his own exotic and exciting dish - Chalaghaji marmalade with banana and chestnut aromas. Pullet liver put in chocolate ball and braised corn tower.

“All of us, all the eight contestants, had equal chances to win the competition. And we showed high-class results today. However, we were focused on difficulties and challenges of preparing dishes with modern technologies, and that, added to the Georgian taste, got us second place. I’m too emotional and happy to talk about future plans yet, but I can say that my team and I do not intend to stop. We want to move forward and show the whole world in Tallinn what Georgian gastronomy can do!” he said.

Giorgi Arabuli received the third place in the competition with the dish Chalaghagi with celery bulb puree. Citrus flavored Georgian cornbread crisps. Onion Pkhali with pomegranate and plum. Pumpkin with plum and cauliflower. Demi-glace with honey and raisin.

“I didn’t expect that I would come in third today, as every participant is a great professional. I knew that everyone would prepare exotic and diverse dishes. I’m about 70% satisfied with myself. Sometimes I was in a hurry, sometimes I could not control the taste, etc… However, it was a great day and a great joy for me, I even can’t describe in words what I’m feeling now. It’s incredible,” he noted.

“I am very glad and satisfied that the first national culinary competition Bocuse d’Or was held successfully,” main organizer of the contest, Levan Kokiashvili, told GEORGIA TODAY. “This is a new stage of the country’s gastronomic development. Now, the European championship awaits us. I call on everyone who is interested in Georgia’s gastronomic development to join us, the Gastronomic Association, and assist us to implement the mutual goal, this time in Europe, as we all see the talent and possibilities of Georgian chefs after the first competition, which is totally worth supporting.”

Chef Roland Debuyst, the President of Bocuse d’Or Belgium, noted that the contestants managed to do some incredible work in only one month.

“The quality of the competition was good. I would like to thank the organizers of Bocuse d’Or Georgia for their hard work and professionalism. Now we are getting ready for Tallinn. The winner should work hard to be more self-confident in the future. He should explore various tastes and flavors and think about the concept and the idea of the dish, which needs a lot of preparation and daily training. We should do our best to suitably present Georgia’s gastronomic possibilities in the international arena.”

“We have one year ahead to prepare for Bocuse d’Or 2020,” added renowned chef Guram Baghdoshvili, one of the members of the jury. “My advice to my young colleagues would be to work on themselves during this year to achieve even better results. We don’t have much time to prepare for Tallinn and a big group will work to suitably present Georgia and its gastronomy at the large-scale and prestigious competition. Despite the fact that we have very little time to show the best result, I have faith, and I believe that we will prove and show to the world that on this planet, there is a small country called Georgia.”

Bocuse d’Or Georgia was organized by the Horeca business development and consulting agency Gastronaut.

The project was presented by the Gastronomic Association of Georgia and supported by the Georgian Culinary Federation and the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.

Georgia’s participation in the Bocuse d’Or culinary competition represents a unique opportunity for the country to introduce and promote itself as well as its rich gastronomic culture.