France wins 2021 Bocuse d'Or international gastronomy prize

On Monday, France won the final of the prestigious Bocuse d'Or culinary contest for the first time since 2013, as part of the International Catering Exhibition (Sirha) in the southern French city of Lyon. 

The competition created in 1987 by Paul Bocuse is a sort of world cup for chefs, held every two years.

"It's been almost 10 years since this trophy came home. I'm so proud of this, especially since I'm a Lyon native. This is huge [...] tomorrow I'll be proud to take it home to Collonges, to Paul Bocuse's inn," said the head of the French team Davy Tissot.

Tissot holds a Michelin star at Saisons, the Institut Paul Bocuse's training restaurant in Ecully, near Lyon.

The silver Bocuse was awarded to Denmark and the bronze to Norway.

For two days, 21 international teams - three of which had to cancel their appearance due to health constraints - competed in two events.

They proposed to a jury of chefs a platter of beef chuck and, for the first time, a box of three dishes - a starter, a main course and a dessert - based on cherry tomatoes.

"The level rises with each edition," said the president of the contest, Jérôme Bocuse, the son of the legendary "Monsieur Paul", who died in 2018. 

"Even on a simple product like the cherry tomato, there are extraordinary things," he added.

This is France's eighth Bocuse d'Or after many years of successive disappointments. The previous victory was in 2013.