After two rounds of challenges, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, it was Magali (adult competition) and Eric (children’s competition) who won the grand finale of the Niçoise cuisine contest “Chef for a Day,” organized by the city of Nice and orchestrated by Franck Viano.
At 10 a.m., the first jury members crossed paths with the initial contestants arriving with their sweet chard pies, previously prepared at home. Already, some pies stood out visually with Niçois eagles in powdered sugar or drawn on the pastry. Just as the 12 jury members* sat down, the tasting carousel began, with contestants taking turns to present their creations before slicing them for tasting. The juniors also presented their work confidently, with a little less pressure, as they were not competing for a place in the afternoon contest.
To advance to the live rounds, contestants had to be among the top four in the chard pie category, and in this competition, Magali, Elodie, Marie-Charlotte, and Bernard clearly led the pack, unanimously winning over the juries. Thus, a meeting was set for 2 p.m. for the final rounds.
The large clock on stage signaled the start of the afternoon with the first challenge: a multiple-choice questionnaire with 20 questions on Niçoise cuisine and heritage: 16, 16, 13, and 12. Impressive scores for the adult contestants, which paved the way for the younger ones who, with pre-cut ingredients and some prestigious reinforcements like Laurence Duperthuy, David Faure, Franck Bermond, Luc Salsedo, Eric Capuzzo, Marc Chevalier, or FX Michaud, could unleash their culinary creativity in preparing and seasoning the emblematic Niçoise dish, its famous salad!
The adults returned to the stage for the second part of the finale. Behind them, a pantry stocked with all the ingredients for another star of the local cuisine: the Pan Bagnat. The finalists faced two challenges in one: first, they needed to prepare a traditional Pan Bagnat, and then, using the same ingredients, create a “revisited” Pan Bagnat. Ideas, inspiration, and much enjoyment, as noted by all the chefs and culinary instructors present, culminated in superb presentations that delighted purists and resulted in scores well above average.
The events concluded, and calculations were done backstage to average all the scores for each contestant. The verdict was in; on the junior side, Eric triumphed over Nolwenn and Lara, while for the adults, Magali was crowned the new “Chef for a Day” 2015, succeeding last year’s winner, Elena Zuccarelli.
A gourmet, festive day filled with good humor resonated and tantalized all the associations and visitors at the Associations’ Rendezvous. We eagerly look forward to the next one…
