Bocuse d'Or Sri Lanka for culinary competition in France

Paul Bocuse's cuisine has set new standards. In January 1987 he created the Bocuse d'Or, a gastronomy contest, giving young chefs an opportunity to demonstrate their skills, offering them a springboard for their careers.

The Bocuse d'Or has created its own family: a global network of chefs, future celebrities and famous cooks, and partner companies.

The sixth edition of the competition to select the Asian finalists will be held in the Asia Pacific Region in April 2016. Twenty-four countries will participate and the top four four countries will be invited to the 17th Global Final in Lyon, France in January 2017.

This is the third time that Sri Lanka has been invited to participate. Spearheading the Bocuse d'Or Sri Lankan chapter is the culinary guru himself Rohan Fernandopulle together with an executive committee of some of the most renowned chefs in Sri Lanka: Dhaithya Krawage, Chandrasiri Sudusinghe, Kithsiri de Silva, Alan Palmer and Buddhika Samarasekera.

This year's competition will be conducted by Bocuse d'Or Sri Lanka with Sri Lanka Tourism and CHSGA. To provide chefs with appropriate training Michelin Star, former Bocuse d'Or winner Roland Debuyst was flown in from Belgium for the pre-training program.

Along with him, an international jury comprising President, Bocuse d'Or Asia, Chef Otto Weible, Chef Christophe Megel from Singapore and Chef Jonas Lundgren, Bocuse d'Or winner 2009 from Sweden will arrive to ensure the high standards of the competition. Culinary gurus, Chef Darashan Munidasa and Michel Saelen will strengthen the jury for a tight battle among the talented Sri Lankan chefs.

"This is a great opportunity for Sri Lanka to showcase its talent to the world," said President, Bocuse d'Or Sri Lanka, Rohan Fernandopulle. "With the high culinary standards it is important for Sri Lankans to benchmark the best of the best and step up to extraordinary culinary standards."

"Our local chefs have an innate ability create spectacular dishes and I believe with the correct training and guidance we have been able to provide them, Sri Lanka will soon be rubbing shoulders with the culinary giants of the world," he said.

The national selection for Bocuse d'Or Sri Lanka will be held on October 23 at the SLITHM premises followed by a dinner and an awards ceremony where Team Sri Lanka will be awarded an opportunity of a lifetime to represent Sri Lanka in Bocuse d'Or Asia 2016.