For a few days now, registrations for the “Chef for a Day” cooking contest have been open. Amateur chefs from the Azur region are tasked with presenting their best pissaladière to be among the 4 finalists of the contest. Behind the scenes of this initiative is Franck Viano, a passionate enthusiast of Niçoise cuisine and former director of Nice Premium publication.
The Mayor wished to invigorate the Associations’ Meeting, and the idea of organizing a cooking contest for adults and children, with a live finale, was born quite naturally. This is to be expected from a member of the Circle of Capelina d’Or and the Management Committee of the Cuisine Nissarde Label.
The contest will take place in three stages. First, you need to send your application to cuisine.nissarde@ville-nice.fr. You will then receive confirmation of your registration along with a blank technical sheet which you must return with all the ingredients and the step-by-step process of your pissaladière recipe, accompanied by three photos of essential elements (the dough ball, onion compote, and the finished pissaladière).
“A jury of professionals comprised of chefs, cooking teachers from Paul Augier High School, artisans, and members of the Circle of Capelina d’Or will make the initial selection,” explains Franck Viano. But this is just the beginning of the contest, as on Saturday, September 13th, the top 10 adult and children’s technical sheets will be invited to the exhibition hall to present their creation to the jury, who, after tasting and a secret vote, will designate the four candidates qualifying for the grand live finale.
In this grand finale, the lucky finalists will compete in a live and public event where they must create a recipe from the Cuisine Nissarde Label recipe guide. “We’re keeping the name of the recipe secret but have reserved a nice surprise for these two grand finales for both kids and adults,” reveals Franck Viano.
More than 150 applications have already been received since the launch last week, and the maximum number set at 500 is likely to be reached very soon. For the young chefs, they must be in grades CE2 to CM2 (ages 8 to 12) to participate in the adventure, while only amateurs can enter the contest for adults.
So, get to your keyboards and then to your kitchen tools to hope to become the “Chef for a Day.”
