After major investments in a bid to restore its lost national culinary prestige, France savoured victory on Monday at the world’s most prestigious international cooking competition, the Bocuse d’Or.
Paul Marcon, son of former winner Régis Marcon, clinched the title in France’s gastronomic capital, Lyon, 30 years after his much-garlanded father.
The biennial event, which takes place in front of a boisterous live audience, was founded in 1987 by the late French cooking legend Paul Bocuse.
Having seen Scandinavian countries dominate over the last decade, France’s team has professionalised and attracted funding from both public authorities and private donors in a sign of the importance of the title for national identity.
