Culinary student Danay Berhane from Cork Institute of Technology has been crowned the 2019 Dairy Chef in Paris. A total of 10 culinary students (5 from France and 5 from Ireland) competed to take part in the 2019 finale of Dairy Chef held in Paris. This competition was organised in partnership between the Embassy of France in Dublin, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) the National Dairy Council (NDC) and the French Dairy Council (Cniel). Culinary students from top colleges in France and Ireland were invited to champion their institution by creating a three-course menu celebrating Irish and/or French dairy produce. Each dish had to include French or Irish dairy produce as the main ingredient.

Danay and his cooking partner Vincent Bigioni from the Institut Paul Bocuse in France created a delicious menu featuring the best of Irish and French dairy produce and really impressed the judges with their innovation and creativity under pressure. The two sets of runners up were Paula Wardziak from Galway Mayo- Institute of Technology and partner Luca Kanzcak from CFA Médéric. As well as Marion Toussine from de l’Université de Cergy Pontoise and Hope Cuddihy from Waterford Institute of Technology.The other Irish students who took part were Chris Leech – TU Dublin, Cathal Brugha Street and Gavin Pope – TU Dublin Tallaght Campus.

Irish Ambassador to France, Patricia O’Brien said “It was a pleasure and an honour for the Irish Embassy in Paris to host the FICAHT Dairy Chef Reception this year and it was a particular delight for me to be one of the judges of the Dairy chef competition. I was very impressed with the professionalism and talent of the wonderful young Irish and French chefs involved”.

The cook-off event was held at the CFA Médéric in Paris on the 3rd of April 2019. For the finale, each Franco-Irish pair of students was given a mystery basket of ingredients. In true “Masterchef style” they were asked to produce three-course meals of their choices with dairy produce included in each course.

The judging panel for the competition comprised H.E. Ms Patricia O’Brien (Ambassador of Ireland in France) Frédérique Tarride (Cultural Counsellor, Embassy of France in Ireland) Cathy Curran (Communications Manager, National Dairy Council), Tugdual Debethune (Chef, Holen restaurant) Sonia Ezgulian (Writer and Consultant Chef, Les Sardines filantes restaurant), Siobhan Gough (Chef, La Table de Cana restaurant) and Mr Derek McClelland (Dairy Chef 2018 winner, Waterford IT)

The first prize is a week-long “stage” within the prestigious kitchen of the Restaurant Bristol in Paris and the joint runners up have won a “stage” at Michelin Star Restaurants in Dublin – Chapter One owned by chef Ross Lewis and Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud. The winning teams also received gastronomic weekends of travel In Ireland and France to experience their unique food cultures following their “Stages”.

 

Photo: Pictured at the Irish Embassy in Paris are Winning Irish student Danay Berhane from Cork Institute of Technology, H.E. Ms Patricia O’Brien (Ambassador of Ireland in France) and French winning student Vincent Bigioni from the Institut Paul Bocuse in France