Norway – the most awarded country in Bocuse d’Or

Reigning champion Norway defended their European title when Christian André Pettersen secured the gold medal in the European final in Bocuse d’Or that was held in Tallinn, Estonia, on Friday, October 16. Bocuse d’Or Europe has been arranged seven times and Norway has reached the podium on each occasion. 

Pettersen and his team presented creations featuring delicacies like smoked quail, potato ravioli and crayfish sauce. Over 300.000 people watched the live stream of the event from Tallinn, proving once again the huge interest for this prestigious competition.

Team Norway is now ready for the 2021 "World Championships for chefs" at Bocuse d'Or in Lyon. Last year, for the 2019 Bocuse d’Or, Pettersen was awarded the bronze medal for his delicate and surprising flavours from the Arctic.  

A culinary revolution has taken place in Norway in recent years, led by a wave of innovative Norwegian master chefs like Pettersen. Every other year, 24 of the most promising chefs in the world meet in Lyon in France to participate in the world’s most prestigious culinary competition. Since the competition was first held in 1987, Norway has won five gold, three silver and three bronze medals, making Norway the country with the most Bocuse d’Or awards. 

CEO of The Norwegian Gastronomy Foundation Mr. Arne Sørvig says: "Team Norway has won most podiums of all countries in Bocuse d’Or since its inception in 1987. Norway may not have the broad culinary traditions that European countries like France, Italy and Spain have. In the 80s and the 90s a movement for opening up the chefs' community towards international food cultures and varied culinary traditions changed Norwegian chefs, and subsequently the restaurants. 

The participation in Bocuse d’Or has since the start been an important driver for leading Norwegian chefs to test their skills and ideas in the world’s most prestigious professional cooking contest. And all Norwegian chefs support their candidate, and follow closely the competition, and thus receive inspiration and new ideas for developing their own cuisine. It is a very positive circle. Also the competition has evolved with time, and opened up for a broader gastronomy, a world gastronomy, where a country’s geographical identity is at the core of a team's proposed menu. 

This way Bocuse d’Or maintains its high professional relevance in a “glocal” culinary evolution towards local ingredients, searching and renewing old traditions, methods and recipies, while at the same time being inspired by similar mindsets in many ambitious countries involved in “new" cuisines”.

Among the Norwegian chefs with medals at the prestigious Bocuse d'Or, we find Bent Stiansen, at Statholdergaarden in Oslo, Charles Tjessem at Villa Skeiene in Sandnes in the Stavanger region, Geir Skeie at Brygga 11 in Sandefjord, Ørjan Johannessen at Bekkjarvik Gjestgiveri, in the Austevoll municipality south of Bergen and Christopher Davidsen at Britannia's Speilsalen in Trondheim.  

Many other Norwegian chefs have also obtained a worldwide reputation in recent years, as an increasing number of Norwegian restaurants have received stars in the prestigious Michelin guide. The opening of the world’s largest underwater restaurant Under in Southern Norway in 2019, as well as the Michelin stars awarded to Trondheim restaurants Credo, Fagn and Speilsalen, have definitely brought Norway on the bucket list for foodies from all over the world.