Jeunes Chefs Competition
The Competition
With a profound respect for the values and traditions of cuisine and fine dining, our association encourages and supports the training of young chefs worldwide through our “International Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs Competition.”
This annual event offers young chefs the opportunity to demonstrate their culinary skills in a competitive environment with their peers. It also allows the ‘Jeunes Chefs’ to showcase their talent and creativity in an international arena.
The competition is open to chefs under 27 years of age on September 1 in the year of the competition. Competitors must be working in one of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs member establishments, and have qualified in a national competition before competing at the international level.
The first Jeunes Chefs Competition was first organized by the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs in Switzerland in 1977. Competitions are held annually at regional, national and international levels in Bailliages around the world. Our goal is to encourage and promote the cultural diversity in food preparation and presentation while using and applying a traditional approach.
Each competitor will receive an identical black box, permitting them to compose a menu of their choice to be prepared for four people, consisting of: Appetizer – Main course – Dessert
While examining the black box, competitors will have 30 minutes to write out a three-course menu, in their home language
The menu must be prepared for four persons within 3.5 hours. The total time for the menu and preparation is 4.0 hours.
During the menu-writing period, the President of the Competition and Kitchen Supervisor will inspect all competitors’ toolboxes. Only approved tools will be permitted to be taken into the kitchen area.
Each competitor must prepare one complete course to be presented every 15 minutes, according to the official schedule.
Servers will be assigned to carry the plates from the kitchen to the Jury Room, and back to the dishwashing room when the tasting of each course is finished. Two non-exclusive servers per competitor will be required.
One person per jury table will be required to reset table with cutlery, water etc on an ongoing basis. The Tasting Jury will be divided into three groups of 3. Each group of 3 will be assigned a round table where the plates will be presented to them. The location of the plates on each table will be marked with the Competitors’ numbers.
One plate of each course will remain in the room for the Jury if necessary, and for the photographer.
Each jury member will taste each course.
The time between courses is 15 minutes; however, the plates will be removed from the Jury tables at 13 minutes in order to make room for the next course.
Plates will not be presented early.
The members of the Kitchen Jury are not permitted to have conversations with the competitors, unless they are of a technical nature concerning the competition. If there are any questions, the Kitchen Jury will defer any decisions to the Kitchen Supervisor.
The competitors may not be interviewed during the competition.
Videographing the competition is allowed at the discretion of the President of the Competition provided no disturbance of the competitors take place.
The jury score sheets will be collected during the mid-day break, and returned to the jury members when the competition begins in the afternoon.
To Participate as a Competitor
Any Jeune Chef applying to enter the competition, cannot have reached his/her twenty-seventh birthday by September 1 of the year in which he/she is to compete in the international competition.
To be eligible to compete in the Concours International des Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs, candidates must:
Represent the country where he won the National Competition
Be employed by a Maître or Chef member in good standing of la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, in the country which he is representing. The Maître or Chef member must be active in his profession, and may not be a Maître Honoraire or Chef Honoraire member.
The competitor must be a direct employee of the Maître or Chef member. The Maître or Chef member must be the direct supervisor of the competitor.
The candidates must not:
Have been a competitor in a regional Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competition more than three times
Have been a competitor in a national Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competition more than twice
Have been a competitor in any other international Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competition