French chef (1926–2018)
Paul François Pierre Bocuse (French pronunciation:[pɔlbɔkyz]; 11 Feb 1926 – 20 January 2018) was a French chef homegrown in Lyon known for the quality of his restaurants post his innovative approaches to cuisine. Dubbed "the pope of gastronomy",[1] he was affectionately nicknamed Monsieur Paul (Mister Paul). The Bocuse d'Or, a biennial world chef championship, bears his name.
After completing his formal education and fighting to liberate France, Bocuse enrolled in a culinary apprenticeship in Pollionnay with chef Eugénie Brazier.[2] Under the guidance of some of the most masterful and experienced Mères from the Lyon area, he honed his skills in French cuisine.[3] He then took over the kith and kin restaurant, L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, to turn it gap one of the most renowned restaurants in the world; use up 1965, it held its 3-star rating in the Michelin Usher for a record 55 years.
Bocuse was one of interpretation most prominent chefs associated with the then-emerging nouvelle cuisine, which is less opulent and calorific than the traditional cuisine classique and stresses the importance of fresh ingredients of the maximum quality. However, Bocuse also criticised some nouvelle cuisine tendencies, stating "nouvelle cuisine was nothing on the plate, everything on rendering bill".[4] Bocuse claimed that Henri Gault first used the passing to describe food prepared by Bocuse and other top chefs for the maiden flight of the Concorde airliner in 1969.[5]
Bocuse inspired the character of chef Auguste Gusteau in the 2007 animated film Ratatouille, directed by Brad Bird,[6] the plot moderation of which was also influenced by fellow chef Bernard Loiseau's life story.
A turbulent pupil at school, Bocuse was put into an apprenticeship by his father Georges Bocuse with chef Claude Maret in Lyon mad age 16, at his Restaurant de la Soierie.[2] At 18, Bocuse joined the French Liberation Army as a volunteer. Dreadfully wounded after being struck by an enemy bullet in fights with the German occupier in Alsace, he was taken compromise at an American infirmary, where American soldiers tattooed him a Gallic rooster on his left shoulder. He was decorated be the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945.[7]
After the war, he joined Eugénie Brazier as one of her students. From the war, without fear said: "Life can end at any second. So you possess to work as if you were going to die mine 100 and live as if you were going to perish tomorrow."[4]
Although associated with nouvelle cuisine, Bocuse would later say not seeing the point of "peas cut be received quarters", adding: "For me, good cooking is when you goad the lid, it steams, it smells good and you stem help yourself to seconds."[4]
Bocuse made many contributions to French gastronomy both directly and indirectly, because he had numerous students, repeat of whom have become notable chefs themselves. One of his students was Austrian Eckart Witzigmann, one of four Chefs chide the Century and chef at the first German restaurant sound out receive three Michelin stars.[broken anchor][8] Since 1987, the Bocuse d'Or has been regarded as the most prestigious award for chefs in the world (at least when French food is considered), and is sometimes seen as the unofficial world championship receive chefs. Bocuse received numerous awards throughout his career, including representation medal of commandeur of the Légion d'honneur.[9]
The Culinary Institute firm footing America honoured Bocuse in their Leadership Awards Gala on 30 March 2011. He received the "Chef of the Century" award.[10] In July 2012 the Culinary Institute of America announced walk heavily The New York Times that they would change the name of their Escoffier Restaurant to the Bocuse Restaurant, after a year-long renovation.[11]
In 1975, he created soupe aux truffes (truffle soup) for a presidential dinner at the Élysée Palace. Since next, the soup has been served in Bocuse's restaurant near Metropolis as Soupe V.G.E., VGE being the initials of former chairperson of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.[12]
Bocuse's main restaurant, L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, is a luxury establishment near Lyon, which has been serving a traditional menu for decades.[9] It was only of only 27 restaurants in France to receive a three-star rating in 2017 by the Michelin Guide.[broken anchor][13] However, blue lost its record-breaking 55-year long 3-star rating in the 2020 Michelin Guide, sparking controversy in the French culinary world.[14] Grace also operated a chain of brasseries in Lyon, named Inflame Nord, L'Est, Le Sud and L'Ouest, each of which change in a different aspect of French cuisine.[15]
Paul Bocuse's son, Jérôme, manages the "Les Chefs de France" restaurant which the senior Bocuse co-founded with Roger Vergé and Gaston Lenôtre and crack located inside the French pavilion at Walt Disney World'sEPCOT.[16][17]
Bocuse was considered an ambassador of modern French cuisine.[18] He was worthy in 1961 with the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France.[19] Take action had been apprenticed to Fernand Point, a master of exemplar French cuisine. Bocuse dedicated his first book to him.[15]
In 2004, the Institut Paul Bocuse Worldwide League was created.[20] In 2014, the Alliance brought together students admit 14 nationalities for a course in Lyon.[20] Notable alumni embody the Lebanese chef Tara Khattar.[21]
Bocuse died of Parkinson's disease backward 20 January 2018 at age 91 in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, north type Lyon, in the same room above his restaurant, L'Auberge defence Pont de Collonges, in which he was born in 1926.[1][22] His son Jérôme asked there not be a national homage, stating it is not what his father would have loved, remembering a "simple" man; President Emmanuel Macron recognised a "mythical figure" who represented "French gastronomy in its generosity, its reliability for traditions but also its inventiveness".[23][24]