The Bocuse d'Or is the biennial World Chefs' Championship. Named after Chef Paul Bocuse, the competition has been running since 1987, as he was the mastermind behind the championship. It is often referred to as the Chefs' Olympics. As time went on, more and more countries wanted to take part, so continental selections were introduced. Bocuse d'Or Europe was held for the first time in 2008. National selections are also held in each Member State to choose the chef who will have the chance to represent their country at the competition. The European selection selects the ten teams that go on to the world final.
The Latvian team was represented by chef Nils Gevele from the restaurant "Ferma". He won the Bocuse d'Or Latvia selection in 2023 in a fierce battle and won this special opportunity to step on the big stage. Nils had been competing in Skills competitions since his school days and had achieved very good results. Today, you can taste Nils' creations at the Ferma restaurant and attend cooking masterclasses at the Restaurant Service School. Nils was accompanied by commis (assistant cook) Agate Batraga and coach Svetlana Riškova, as well as Dinārs Zvidriņš, the Latvian candidate for the Bocuse d'Or European selection in previous years, who represented Latvia on the jury.
Nils Ģēvele and his team finished 12th with 1268 points, only 34 points behind the top ten, which is an excellent result for the Latvian team, as they overtook many competitors who were a head better than them. The growth of the Latvian team over these two years was very much appreciated by the other teams. Europe did not expect such a high result from us. Nils managed to do everything he had planned, and his technical work in the kitchen, where the Latvian team had not done so well in previous competitions, was also highly appreciated. Unfortunately, we are not going to the final this time, but we know that we are going in the right direction and other teams will have to face us in the next competition.
"It was a great pleasure to be in Trondheim representing my country in such an important competition! I will never forget this experience, because only a few people get such an opportunity to show their talent to the best chefs in the world. The competition is supposedly almost 6 hours long, but it goes by so fast in your head that you can't comprehend it. We have been preparing these dishes for almost four months now during the training, it is hard to count how many times, and it is strange to realise that tomorrow this phase will be over and a new one will begin. Thank you to my family for understanding and to the team who supported me during this stressful time. And of course to Latvia Travel for being faithful to our vision and goals. My wish for young chefs is not to give up at the first difficulties, even coming from small Latvia we can reach the World level. "
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