Two-star chef William Frachot wins at Festival Culinaire Bernard Loiseau
Two-Michelin-starred chef William Frachot from France, and Amit Chandel from the Seychelles, have won the 10th edition of the Festival Culinaire Bernard Loiseau.
The team, made up of two-Michelin-starred chef Frachot, from L'Hostellerie du Chapeau Rouge in France, and chef Amit Chandel from the Constance Ephelia Seychelles, joined commis chef Bisham Jumangalsing from the Constance Belle Mare Plage to take first place.
The competition took place from 21-28 March at the five-star Mauritius resort the Constance Belle Mare Plage.
The winning dishes were creamy palm heart with pineapple confit, black pepper and pomegranate as a starter (pictured below), followed by organic grilled seabass from the Gulf of Corinth, with calebasse gourd, claws and mussel curry broth for the main.
Two-Michelin-starred UK chef and Gidleigh Park Restaurant executive head chef Michael Caines formed part of the team that came in third place, which also included Aviraj Pareeague from the Constance Lémuria Seychelles, and commis Ravi Ramtohul.
Second place went to Denis Feix from the Restaurant Giardino, Columbia Hotel, Germany; Harrish Mungur from the Constance Belle Mare Plage, Mauritius, and commis Raatree Dhookit.
Frachot also won the Deutz Trophy from Champagne Deutz, for his winning canapé of organic Oso gambas crusted in lime bread, paired with the Amour de Deutz Rosé Champagne 2006.
The competition also sees the chefs share knowledge and skills, and all team members visited local attractions such as the Flacq central market at Port Louis, a typical produce market where the chefs had to choose ingredients to use in their dishes.
The competition is named after the late, celebrated French chef Bernard Loiseau â€' who won three Michelin stars in 1991, and died in 2003. It was started by Loiseau's wife Dominique in 2005, to honour her husband's culinary memory, and brings over six European chefs every year to help share knowledge and encourage cooking in the Indian Ocean style.
The other chef teams in the main competition were:
Serge Vieira, Serge Vieira Restaurant, Chaudes Aigues, France
Dilup Gamage, Constance Moofushi Maldives
Commis Kevin Hook
Alexandre Bourdas, Saquana Restaurant Honfleur, France
Kritesh Halkory, Constance Le Prince Maurice, Mauritius
Commis Emmanuel Fortuno
Martin Obermarzoner, Jasmin Restaurant, Hotel Bischofhof, Klausen, Italy
Hem Pulami, Constance Halaveli Maldives
Commis Vikram Soobrun
Full list of winners
Cocktails competition, 21 March
Jonathan Nazira from Constance Belle Mare Plage
The art of the table competition, 26 March
Annecy Yan Kan Yun from Constance Belle Mare Plage
The café gourmand competition, 26 March
Nicolas Durousseau from Constance Belle Mare Plage, and Valentin Brondani from the Constance Le Prince Maurice
The sommelier competition, 27 March
De Lores Malin from Constance Belle Mare Plage
•The Caterer will be featuring the festival in depth later this month.
Postcard from the Chef: Festival Culinaire Bernard Loiseau, Mauritius >>
