New this year, the committee engaged the competitors starting in May by sending a monthly newsletter on what to expect at the competition as well as tips from previous competitors and judges . The Newsletters are posted for all to read on the international website under the Calgary 2019 Competition resources.
The black box was very challenging as it had four proteins. Fresh Pickerel (1 kg. whole) was released to the competitors 2 months in advance. The other mandatory ingredients revealed just prior to the competitors writing their menus were; 4 whole quail, 12 raw spot prawns, beef tri-tip/ coulotte 1.5kg,, 2 whole acorn squash, 2 whole zucchini, frozen Saskatoon berries 500gm., 4 fresh peaches, honey 120gm. and beluga lentils 300gm. The competitors had to use at least 50% of each of the above-mentioned items and could compliment them with a large array of non-mandatory items. The competition allows the young chefs 30 minutes to write their menu then 3.5 hour to their first course followed by 15 minutes until their main and a final 15 minutes to their dessert.
International JCR Final
Calgary, Canada, Sept 17-22, 2019
Report by Lois Gilbert, Bailli Honoraire of Moscow
Member, Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs Committee
JCR 2019 Report
The 43rd Jeunes Chefs Rotisseurs Competition was held in “Cow Town” otherwise known as Calgary, Canada. This was only the second time that an International competition and a National competition were held in the same city and venue one day apart. The same was done in Calgary in 2004. The Calgary Bailliage hosted a fantastic event for the Jeunes Chefs as well as all those that attended. Many of the competitors took the opportunity to extend their stay in Canada and experience the snow peaked Rocky Mountains.
JCR 2019 Blackbox
Concours International des Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs 2019
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The competitors came from 21 countries, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Columbia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK and USA. This year’s competition had 2 female and 19 male competitors.
The competitors were hosted by Canada Beef. The tour was led by the Director of Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence on a tour of W A Ranches, a 19,000 acre ranch with 1000+ Angus beef that was donated to the University of Alberta last year. They had the opportunity to see a working breeding ranch and watch a demonstration by cowboys that manage the farm in traditional ranching methods. The cows and young steer, less then six months old, were both curious and vocal of our visit. The tour ended at the Centre of Excellence with a butchery demonstration and a discussion on Canada’s international role in sustainability and the future of beef farming. What goes well with beef, of course beer! Big Rock Brewery gave the competitors a morning tour of their Calgary flagship facility with a chance to taste many of their unique craft beers.
The wide diversity of both the kitchen and tasting judges provided excellent and fair scoring which resulted in a First Place medal for Darnell Mark Banman, Bailliage of Canada , Second Place medal for Jordon Powell, Bailliage of UK and Third Place medal for Theresa Rogl , Bailliage of Austria. Congratulations also to first place winner Darnell Banman of Canada for achieving the highest marks in the kitchen.
Competitions like this rely on the expertise and unbiased fairness of both the Kitchen Judges and the Tasting judges. Thank you to those judges that attended from all corners of the world.
We are grateful to le Cordon Bleu, Paris represented by Directory of Culinary Eric Briffard , Wüsthof Manufacturing, Germany and Chef’s-Hat Canada, These are our perpetual sponsors, and we are very grateful for their generous contributions to the competition.
We would also like to thank Canada Beef and Cargill for their generous donations as well as local sponsors CattleBoyz and Hotel Arts. Competitions of this size cannot be successful without the volunteers from the host Bailliage who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. Thank You All!
Next year we will celebrate the 44th Concourse International des Jeunes Chef Rotisseurs to be held Sept 26th at le Cordon Bleu, Paris.
