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 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | April 2006 
Vallarta Trophy Cooking Competition
 Kathy Taylor - PVNN
| | The First Annual Thierry Blouet Vallarta Trophy Cooking Competition was a huge success, showcasing some of the finest young chefs in Puerto Vallarta today. CLICK HERE to read BanderasNews reporter Kathy Taylor's exclusive interview with the winner, Oscar Galvan. |
Puerto Vallarta - One of Mexico's rising culinary stars, 24 year old Oscar Galvan, Executive Chef of Agave Grill in Puerto Vallarta, was crowned on March 19th at the First Annual Thierry Blouet Vallarta Trophy Cooking Competition.
Maintaining his status as one of the culinary visionaries in this Pacific paradise, Thierry Blouet, owner of Puerto Vallarta's world renowned restaurant Café de Artistes, established this first ever local chef competition.
Blouet, who has garnered international acclaim for his gastronomic talent throughout the years, believes that this competition, to be held annually, will help local chefs prepare for the stress and challenge of international competition. Early in his career, while at La Perla at the world-class Camino Real in Puerto Vallarta, Chef Blouet was twice named the National Chef of the Year.
The youngest chef in a field of 6 competitors, narrowed down from approximately 20 applicants, Oscar Galvan walked away with the top prize after a day of friendly rivalry.
Entrants had to be between the ages of 20 and 42, currently employed in a professional kitchen, and have at least 4 years of experience. Candidates were given 3 hours to prepare and present their creations using these ingredients: duck, cream cheese, rice, and cranberries.
Beginning with the first chef at the grill at 10:00 in the morning, and another beginning every 30 minutes, they created their entrées before of a gallery of friends and restaurant professionals, and presented to the judges in the same order.
Chef and President of the Culinary Academy of France, Gerard Dupont, supervised the competition. Chef Dupont is no stranger to the gastronomic scene in Puerto Vallarta; he has been a guest chef at Café des Artistes and the guest instructor and inspiration for many young local chefs at the annual Puerto Vallarta Festival Gourmet for many years.
The competition was staged in the open kitchen of Thierry Blouet's Cocina de Autor, the elegant private dining room of the Café des Artistes suite of dining experiences. Cocina boasts an open kitchen with a gallery for observers. The dishes were presented in Cocina's atrium, where the judges viewed the presentations with experienced eyes and tasted with their very qualified palates.
Headed by Dupont, the judges were: Héctor Zavala, AREGALA; Héctor Pérez García, Presidente CANIRAC; Richard Vallin, Director General of the Grand Mayan Palace; Andreas Ruprechter, Proprietor of Cafe Maximilian; Laurent Delorme, Chef, Bianco; Ramón Alvarez, Executive Chef, Café des Artistes; Hugo Ahumada, Executive Chef, Thierry Blouet Cocina de Autor; and Chef Roland Menetrey, Festival Gourmet, Puerto Vallarta.
Galvan received the Thierry Blouet trophy, designed by artist Octavio Gonzalez Gutierrez, the bronze medal of the Culinary Academy of France, a new chef's uniform, his weight in Negra Modelo beer, a six-course dinner for two at Thierry Blouet Cocina de Autor, and the equivalent in pesos of $1000 USD supplied by the United States Department of Agriculture. Second and third place winners also won a week of practice in Thierry Blouet Cocina Autor.
Vallarta Trophy Cooking Competition Winners
1st - Oscar Emmanuel Galván Arriaga, Restaurante Agave Grill, age 24
2nd - José Ramón Bramasco Nolasco, Hotel Four Seasons, age 26
3rd - José Maria Plazola Torres, Hotel Casa Velas, age 30
4th - Rafael Eduardo Muñoz Mora, Restaurante Los Xitomates, age 29
5th - Rodrigo Piña Camba, Restaurante El Naranjo, age 27
6th - Demberto Aguayo Montes, Hotel Velas Vallarta, age 31
First Annual Thierry Blouet Vallarta Trophy Sponsors:
• Académie Culinaire de France
• Aguas Nestlé
• Anco Alimentos
• Ayuntamiento de Puerto Vallarta
• Boutique Thierry Blouet
• Café Des Artistes
• Cranberry Marketing Committee
• Grupo Modelo
• Hotel Sheraton Buganvilias
• Mr Lucky
• United States Department of Agriculture
• USA Rice
• USA Poultry and Eggs
• US Dairy Export Council
• Viña Luis Felipe Edwards
• Vallarta Opina
Overall, the First Annual Thierry Blouet Vallarta Trophy Cooking Competition was a huge success, showcasing some of the finest young chefs in Puerto Vallarta today. CLICK HERE to read BanderasNews reporter Kathy Taylor's exclusive interview with the winner, Oscar Galvan. |
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