Paul Bocuse was an internationally acclaimed chef who was known as the Father of Nouvelle Cuisine.
He has died at the age of 91, after suffering from Parkinson's disease for several years. Arguably one of the most famous French chefs of the 20th Century, renowned for his introduction and championing of a lighter style of cooking in French cuisine, the Father of Nouvelle Cuisine.
Chef Bocuse, born 11th February 1926 in Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, a descendant from a family of chefs dating back to the late 1600’s, started his culinary journey as an apprentice in 1942 at Claude Marets Restaurant in Lyon where he learnt to pick out the best produce on the market.
In 1950, Bocuse completed his apprenticeship with Fernand Point and Bocuse followed Fernands ideas by only using the freshest ingredients in his cooking. Fernand Point was a mentor and trained Bocuses father earlier in life; Fernand referred to Bocuse as his spiritual son.
Chef Bocuse was not only a legendary chef, his restaurant in Lyon held its three Michelin stars for over 43 years, he was also an experienced inventor and businessman. In 1959, Paul’s beloved father passed away, leaving him the family restaurant, along with a lot of debt. Paul then repurchased the inn that his grandfather lost, as well as the name, and turned it into a banquet facility.
This was later known as L’Auberge Paul Bocuse. In the following years, Bocuse also created the first worldwide competition of cuisine Bocuse d’Or, his own exported wines under his label for his restaurant and created a range of popular drinks such as wines and champagnes.
Bocuse’s contribution to French gastronomy is enormous. After attracting much attention with his innovative nouvelle cuisine, a style that is less opulent and calorific than traditional cuisine classics, he then became the Ambassador of French Cuisine. A long string of awards are held in his name such as Best Craftsman of the Year by Meilleur Ouvrier de France competition, in 1975 the President Valery Gisard d’Estaing awarded Paul the Legion of Honour, in 1976 Paul was elected the outstanding Chef of the Century by Gault and Millau.
In 1990, he was entrusted with Presidency at the School of Culinary Arts of Ecully and in 1992 he was entrusted with the Presidency of the Best Artisan of France. Not only was Bocuse a man of many talents, he was a man of charity and good heart. In 1949 he held a wine auction at the medieval charity hospital. At the Bistro 110 benefits he raised more than $3,000. He has also helped raise money for a Chicago hunger program for kids, helped with the March of Dimes and Project Openhand and, after all his charity work in 1944, he then enlisted in the first French Division at WWII where he was shot and treated in an American hospital.
In 1982, Bocuse opened up a restaurant in the Epcot Center, a part of Disneyworld, with Gaston Leotre and Roger Verge. His son Jerome now manages the Chefs de France restaurant inside the French pavilion at Walt Disney World’s Epcot. After the very long list of his achievements, merely scratching the surface of Bocuse’s success, it is also important to talk about his excellent culinary talent. Bocuse’s main restaurant is the luxury three Michelin starred l͛Auberge du Pont de Collonges, near Lyon.
The Bocuse franchise consists of over a dozen spin-off restaurants, scores of cookbooks, an international cooking competition, Bocuse d’Or. Paul Bocuse was also honoured with an award named after him, Bocuse d’Or, one of the most prestigious awards for chefs in the world and is sometimes seen as the unofficial world championships for chefs. The Culinary Institute of America honoured Bocuse in their Leadership Awards Gala on 30 March 2011.
Paul has his own institute, Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance, where the institute brings together 12 universities in South Africa, United States, Peru, Canada, Japan, Guatemala, Taiwan, Greece, Singapore, China, Finland, Colombia and Ecuador. Each university selects the best students to follow a four-month intensive training at the Institute Paul Bocuse in subjects such as French Regional Cuisine, the arts de la table, wine selection, cheeses, French cooking terminology and pastry techniques.
He sadly leaves behind his two children, daughter Francoise, his son Jerome, and his partner Patricia Zizza. Chef Paul Bocuse, one of the prominent chefs associated with nouvelle cuisine, is not just a French cuisine magician, he was also a keen business man, an innovator and the Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
