Master chef Paul Bocuse wins high French honor at
star-studded New York event
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NEW YORK, May 19 (StarChefs.com) - French master
chef Paul Bocuse won one of France's most prestigious honors this
week for his enduring gastronomic excellence in a ceremony Monday
night at the French Consulate that marked the first time a chef won
the award.
Amid about 200 guests and a collection of nearly 40 world-renowned
chefs who represented a rare concentration of French and American
culinary stars, France's General Consul in New York, Richard Duqu,
presented Bocuse with the French medal of Commander in the National
Order of Merit as a live band broke into a quick rendition of France's
national anthem, "La Marseillaise."
"We have never seen so many stars and so many toques at the French
Consulate. So it is among a large number of your friends that we honor
you tonight, Paul Bocuse," Duqu said referring to the heavy gastronomic
hitters present from both sides of the Atlantic including Pierre Troisgros
from France, Daniel Boulud from New York and even Paul Prudhomme from
Louisiana.
"You have achieved a pre-eminent place in the long and brilliant tradition
of French haute cuisine, following in the steps of such culinary artists
as Audot, Carme, Escoffier and your mentor, Fernand Point," the diplomat
said.
Duqu said virtually every ministry in the French government could
find a reason to single out for excellence the 73-year-old chef, a
native of Collanges-au-Mont d'Or near Lyon in southern France.
Accepting the award, Bocuse said he was honored the ceremony could
take place in New York since he has a special attachment to America,
adding that were it not for American forces who stormed the French
beaches of Normandy in 1944 to liberate Europe, history might not
have included Monday's ceremony.
Bocuse said France had clearly spread the gastronomic gospel around
the world in the 20th Century, but he implored French chefs everywhere
to stay focused in their kitchens practicing their art rather than
spending too much time spreading the word.
He also acknowledged many of his prestigious friends and colleagues
who were present, joking that between he, Pierre Troisgros and Marc
Haeberlin, the salon at the French Consulate was packed with over
a century of top-notch Michelin three-star status.
Asked later why he was keen on receiving the prestigious French award
in America, and not in France, Bocuse told StarChefs: "Well, New York
is the capital of the world. And when you're doing something like
this, you really should do it in New York."
In a separate ceremony on Monday evening, the first Craig Claiborne
Award was given to Tracy O'Grady, the sous-chef at Kinkead's in Washington,
D.C., to honor her as the U.S. representative to next year's Bocuse
d'Or international cooking competition in Lyon. The Claiborne Award
is in memory of the late New York Times restaurant critic and will
be awarded every other year to the U.S. entrant to the Bocuse D'or
competition, which has been held every other year since 1981.
-- Oliver Ludwig
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