The continental selection for the next Bocuse d’Or gourmet tournament will take place this May in Budapest, and after yesterday’s competition to select Hungary’s representative foodsmith for this contest, Tamás Széll – the chef of Budapest’s Michelin-starred Onyx restaurant – won the national selection to advance to the next stage. During the May competition between top chefs from 20 European countries, the dishes that these epicurean experts must prepare will feature regional ingredients of Hungarian cuisine.

90-year-old Frenchman Paul Bocuse is one of the world’s most famous chefs, and his dedication to using high-quality fresh ingredients has been very important throughout his career. He founded the international Bocuse d’Or cooking competition during a visit to Lyon in 1985. Today, the Bocuse d’Or is one of the world’s most prestigious culinary tournaments, taking place every two years near the end of January in Lyon, France, at the SIRHA International Hotel, Catering and Food Trade Exhibition.

The year 2013 was an important turning point, both for Bocuse and Hungarian gastronomy: that year, the first Hungarian chef to qualify for the finals of the cooking competition, Tamás Széll, placed 10th with his team. In 2014,Gábor Molnár placed 9th in the continental selection, and this year, Hungary was given the opportunity to host the 2016 regional selection. Thus, this May, Budapest will host the European semifinals for the next Bocuse d’Or, which will be an indisputably important event for Hungary’s gastronomy community. SIRHA Budapest will receive the best European competitors of the event on May 10-11.

At the semifinals, the most talented chefs of 20 European countries will compete in front of a huge audience, cooking for five hours and 35 minutes, to determine the best chefs of Europe. The top 11 competitors will take part in the world finals, held in Lyon, in the January of 2017. Tamás Széll, the chef of Onyx, won the Hungarian national selection of Bocuse d’Or held on February 18th, and thus received the opportunity to represent Hungary in the continental selection, held on May 10-11, also in Budapest.

A total of six chefs competed to quality for the European semifinals of Bocuse d’Or: Tamás Széll (with his assistant, Kevin Szabó), Ádám Pohner (2nd place – Olimpia Restaurant), Árpád Győrffy (Kollázs), Rodrigo Sándor (Costes Downtown), László Szabó (Sodexo), and István Volenter (3rd place – 67 Restaurant and Bistro). The professional jury consisted of six Hungarian chefs invited by the contestants and six additional international professionals.

The Hungarian finalists could already work with Hungarian ingredients to be used in the continental selection: Danube sterlet and its caviar for the fish dish, as well as red deer calf thighs for the meat dish. The continental selection’s special feature is that, for the first time, both dishes will feature main components that are ingredients of Hungarian cuisine – and only Hungarian wines will be served to accompany the dishes. In addition to Tamás Széll, the representatives of the additional 19 countries will compete for the titled Bocuse d’Or Europe 2016 in May; at the 2017 world finals held in Lyon, the best chefs of America, Europe, and Asia – from 24 countries – will compete. Keep reading We Love Budapest for updates on this tasteful competition!