If the Blue Samurai were eliminated Monday from the football world cup, Japan however shone on another ground, far from the Qatari stadiums. He won, the same evening in Lyon, the supreme title of world champion… of pie.
By beating Lyon candidate Jérémie Crauser, who was nevertheless playing at home, on the post, Ryutaro Shiomi allowed Japan, already winners last year and in 2020, to achieve the hat-trick.
Presented as a joke at the start, this championship ended up becoming an international benchmark. “We are four to have created this competition. It was first an idea of friends for a little fun, ”recalls chef Christophe Marguin, one of the organizers and president of the Toques Blanches Lyonnaises. But, realizing that the vast majority of production is “industrial”, the friends decide to use it as an opportunity to promote this culinary tradition which is reputed to be very difficult to execute.
A product forgotten for years
“For many years, it’s a product that we haven’t worked on,” continues Christophe Marguin. “It’s important to show how it’s done, to explain that the meat must marinate, make the jelly, the cooking of the dough… So in the transmission, it’s really an ideal dish to explain to young people what it’s about. It’s a bit like everyday cooking,” he rejoices.
As for explaining the Japanese domination in the matter? “The craze comes quite simply from the fact that the Japanese are perfectionists, they like the quality of their work and are lovers of French cuisine and the product,” says juror Christophe Paucod, Michelin-starred chef based in Tokyo.
The jury, chaired by Pierre Hermé, had to taste for the occasion 14 pâtés prepared by chefs from Japan, France, South America, Switzerland and also Tahiti.