57566 La Chaine NL vol 6 iss 1 - la Chaine des Rotisseurs ...

57566 La Chaine NL vol 6 iss 1 ENG:E603-La Chaine NL vol 6 iss 1 4/4/07 11:26 AM Page 6
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International Jeunes Commis Rôtisseurs Competition
A Perspective from a Tasting Judge
When I applied and was accepted to be a tasting judge for
the Jeunes Commis Rôtisseurs competition held in
Adelaide, Australia in September 2006, I was completely
unprepared for the challenge that lay before me! The competition
is both strenuous and difficult, and with twentythree
international candidates, the competition was tight.
Each of the candidates was under the age of twenty-seven,
with the average age between twenty and twenty-four.
Translators were supplied if necessary for the non-English
speaking contestants.
The twelve tasting judges from all over the globe were
experienced in judging—with the exception of yours truly!
Prior to the competition, I had been given eighteen sheets
entitled “Official Competition Manual for the Jury.”
Reading instructions on paper is one thing; carrying out
those instructions is quite another!
At 6:00 am, eleven of the twenty-three contestants
assembled in the kitchens of the Regency Institute in
Adelaide. This is a magnificent food technology institute
similar to Vancouver Community College — however, it is
vastly larger and also holds a school for le Cordon Bleu.
After viewing the notorious “black box,” the chefs were
given half an hour to compose their menus and three
hours to prepare their menus. The black box contained
sixty-two ingredients (five of which were mandatory) and
had not been seen by the young chefs until they entered
the kitchen. They were asked to prepare four dishes each
of appetizer, main course and dessert. Kitchen judges
scored the candidates on technique, food usage, wastage
and sanitation. Meanwhile in the tasting room, the tasting
judges were given fifteen
minutes to view the ingredients
in the black box. Yikes!
Could I ever remember all the
ingredients?
At 10:00 am, servers placed
one appetizer dish on each of
three tables while the other
dish was placed on a general
table for the final viewing of
all three courses. At each of
the tasting tables, there were
four judges — two professionals
and two non-professionals.
To be fair to all competitors,
timing was essential and
David Tetrault, who so ably
spearheaded the entire competition,
was extremely precise
in shouting out the time in
minutes and seconds — a very
stressful situation!
Norma Gibson, Officier, Commandeur, Vancouver
The tasting panel judges. Norma Gibson is fourth from right, top row. Jim
Jaworski, Bailli Régional, Manitoba, is kneeling to the right in the front row.
Norma Gibson in Adelaide. The black box.
We were given a copy of the menus composed by each
candidate and the score sheet. We were to allocate 15
marks for taste, 5 marks for presentation and 10 for originality,
for appetizer, main course and dessert. Once a decision
had been made, no changes or appeals were allowed.
Candidates were identified only by number. With food
coming at us so quickly, we had only seconds to refresh
our palate, and water was our chief ally. By 1:00 pm the
first round was finished and we headed for — would you
believe it — lunch! Could I possibly eat one more mouthful
of anything? The students had prepared an attractive buffet,
which was delicious. After lunch, we had a three-hour
reprieve and some of us headed back to our hotel for a nap
or a long walk. The process began again for the remaining
twelve candidates at 4:00 pm and ended at 7:30 pm. What
a remarkable day!
The winner is determined from the total number of
points awarded by the kitchen and tasting judges, a
kitchen supervisor (in this case Takashi Murakami from
Canada, who is also on the International Jeunes Commis
Committee), a timing and production supervisor and an
auditor from the national council of the host country, plus
one assistant auditor from the host country.
On Saturday evening at the gala dinner, the winners
were announced. The third place was the first time a tie
had occurred — Sweden and Norway each had the same
number of points. Second place went to Germany. The
overall winner was Daniel Craig from the Delta Ocean
Point Resort in Victoria, BC — yes, the Canadian won!
In my humble opinion, all
twenty-three contestants were
winners. Many of them had
already passed through several
screenings to reach this most
prestigious international competition.
They had spent many
days, and in some cases weeks,
working with the top chefs in
their country. Some had travelled
to top restaurants in
major cities, gaining insights
from famous chefs while others
spent many hours in the
kitchens of the top hotels in the
world.
The international convention
is always an exciting event to
attend and the competition
must be one of the best in the
world. The 2007 event will be
held in Frankfurt and I urge
you all to come.