SIRAH takes place every other year in Lyon as part of the Sirha Lyon Trade Exhibition, one of the biggest food events around the world that took place between the 19th and 23rd of January. It is the global meeting place for hotels, restaurants, catering and gastronomy. SIRAH is the biggest exhibition in the world for HoReCa and this year, the event hosted over 40,000 of exhibitors and 200, 000 visitors. 4000 brands exhibited and more than 600 products and innovations were launched during the show.
This year Classic Fine Foods had their own branded booth and 41 people from different countries were there to welcome our guests, clients and partners. The booth was there to showcase our premium positioning, global footprint and our brand principals. Thanks to our very generous partners, we served our visitors a selection of wonderful food, including Bridor French pastries, Soulard & Rougie foie gras, a selection of oysters provided by Cadoret & Geay and an array of chocolates from Valrhona.
Classic Fine Foods countries present at SIRHA:
UK
UAE
Hong Kong
Singapore
Malaysia
Japan
France
Indonesia
Vietnam
During 5 days of exhibition SIRHA also hosted a number of premium competitions. The most important for us at Classic Fine Foods are the Bocuse D’Or and Pastry World Cup.
Classic Fine Foods UK is a proud sponsor of both UK teams for Bocuse D’or and Pastry World Cup.
Bocuse D’or is the most prestigious Chefs World Championship that showcases the extraordinarily high level of technical skills and creativity of chefs around the world.
Paul Bocuse created the Bocuse d’Or in 1987 during a trade fair, now called Sirha Lyon; wanting to establish a global competition for chefs keen to push the boundaries of the culinary world. He was inspired by the city of Lyon and France which are both at the forefront of world cuisine
As part of the competition, each team of chefs need to create a platter following a particular theme and this year the theme is seafood as part of the Seafood Scotland’s support.
The UK Team:
President: Simon Rogan - Lenclume
Candidate: Ian Musgrave- Ritz Hotel
Commis: Adam Beaumont- Ritz Hotel
Coach: Tom Phillips- Rest Story
Technical Director: John Williams- Ritz
Hotel Chair: Andreas Antone- Simpson
Restaurant Honorary Vice-President: Brian Turner
Global Chef Ambassador: Clare Smyth- Core by Clare Smyth
Chef Ambassadors: Pierre Koffman, Tom Sellers, Simon Hulstone, Tom Aikens, Alyn Williams, Adam Bennett, Ashley Palmer Watts, Jonny Slake, Lisa Allen, Hrishikesh , Diego Masciaga
Performance Coach: Mike Duckett
Treasurer: Peter Griffiths
Some highlights of the dishes the team created included:
-‘Queen Elizabeth’s Crown’, Cotswold Legbar egg yolk, Delica pumkin crush and Montgomery cheese sauce with crunchy sourdough croutons
-Whole monkfish roasted on the ‘bone’ and wrapped in oak smoked monkfish ‘bacon’
-Cream shellfish sauce finished with razor clams, cockles brown shrimp and lobster oil
-Cambridge cream with potimarron and date sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg shortbread and popcorn ice cream
The jury for the competition was composed of 12 international chefs who were responsible for judging the teams on their techniques, how they handled pressure, and how they cut down on food waste.
Results:
The Ritz Hotel Chef Ian Musgrave and his team competed against 20 countries. In the final, The UK team came 7th overall. A huge congratulations to the UK team for their hard work and success in the competition.
Coupe Du Monde De La Patisserie (Pastry World Cup)
The Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie or World Pastry Cup is an international contest that unveils the latest trends in the industry and discovers the new talents of the worldwide pastry.
The World Pastry Cup is the most spectacular pastry contest across the globe and the international event brings together 20 teams of pastry chefs from all over the world. The teams are given the opportunity to showcase their talent, their technique and their culture
In each team, 3 pastry chefs (an ice cream specialist, a sugar expert and a chocolate maker) join forces to take on the different challenges in their respective fields.
The UK Team:
Chairman UK Pastry Club: Benoit Blin- Belmon Le Manoir
Secretary & Promotions Manager: Anne Sophie Labruyere
Coach: Emmanuel Ryon MOF & Christophe Rhedon MOF
President: Denis Drame- Head of Culinary Development at Classic Fine Foods
Captain: Martin Chiffers- International Pastry Consultant
Chocolate Candidate: Michael Kwan Ho Lam- The Dorchester
Sugar Candidate: Nicolas Houchet - The Savoy
Some highlights of the dishes the team created included:
-Chocolate dessert: Chocolate tuile, mango compote, makelaka chocolate, cream, chocolate cremeux, chocolate sponge, vanilla caramel and chocolate sable.
-Frozen Lollipops: Clear glaze, pecan ice cream, vanilla cream, pecan chocolate and banana and lime ice cream.
-Restaurant dessert: Tuile, jasmine meringue, coconut and kaffir lime foam, galangal crumble, mango compote, and jasmine ice cream.
There were two different juries; the Restaurant Style Dessert Jury and the Tasting Jury. Together they judged the candidates' creations on their presentation, taste, working techniques, skills, respect for the products, the recipe's originality and quality of service, just like in a restaurant.
Results:
The UK Team came the 4th place in the final of the Pastry World Cup this year. The team were also the winners of the European Cup in 2022. Well done to the UK teams for their success at Bocuse D’or and Pastry World Cup!
It was a pleasure for Classic Fine Foods to be part of this prestigious culinary event and we look forward to our next visit! See you in 2025!
Find out more about Classic Fine Food's sponsorship of Bocuse D’or and Pastry World Cup in our other blog post here.
