Davy Tissot leans over his plate. A nice slice of pie offers itself to the eye of the winner of the Bocuse d’Or 2021, before flattering its taste. Everyone can snuggle up in this little rectangle: wild boar stew, octopus, bacon from Colonnata, morels, port… One bite, and the chef notes every aspect: presentation, dough, jelly, balance… The plate sets off again, almost unopened , before our hungry eyes. It is that there are twelve left to taste!
This Monday, at the Paul Bocuse Abbey in Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or (Rhône), Davy Tissot is chairing the jury of the 12th edition of the
World Championship of pie. Around him, starred chefs, the best workers in France and gastronomic professionals tasted the pâtés-croûtes of 13 finalists, including two Japanese and one Canadian, busy setting their plates behind velvet curtains.
Two Lyonnais to compete with Japanese favorites
Each slice rivals elegance, ornate patterns, creativity, exceptional ingredients. Christophe Marguin, chef and president of Toques Blanches Lyonnaises, however, recalls that “what matters is that it’s good! If there is no jelly, it is zero. If it’s too white, it’s not cooked. In this competition, it is always the best who wins, and that is our pride. The quality has never declined ”.
The last edition, in 2019, was won by Tokyoite Osamu Tsukamoto. However, two Lyonnais are there to bring the cup home. Jérémie Crauser represents the third generation of a family of pork butchers from Lyon, and he is keen on this title of world champion: works dough, jelly, stuffings, juices, seasonings. What is difficult is to have a baked dough and a soft stuffing… I make it in the store, but a championship pie is completely different, we have more fun. “
A Japanese victory again
His colleague and competitor Alexis Trollier, he is a butcher by trade, “but I’ve been trying my hand at charcuterie and pie for about ten years,” he explains. “At the start it was a game, because it’s an accumulation of techniques that I love to perform. This competition has spoken to me since its inception, a lot of big names have won it, so it means a lot to me. The particular difficulty, here, is the unknown of the place, and all the delicate little aspects to master. “
And, in the end, it was again a Japanese who won. Kohei Fukuda became the 2021 world pie champion with a rather traditional duck-based recipe, but perfect in every way, the main one: the taste. Our two Lyon candidates finished tied for 4th. Considering the quality of the dishes presented, it must have been a blast.