THE executive chef at RACV Cape Schanck Resort, Joshua Pelham, will represent Australia in next year’s international Bocuse d’Or culinary contest.
He will be joined in the Bocuse d’Or Asia Pacific qualifier by RACV City Club apprentice chef Harrison Caruana.
The pair will be trained by head coach Scott Pickett and a panel of senior chefs.
Pelham says he has has dreamed of competing in the elite event ever since he watched Pickett training for Bocuse d’Or 2005.
“At the time I was an apprentice at Matteo’s with Scott’s commis chef Cate Robertson,” he said.
“She invited me to watch a training session, and I admired their level of discipline and focus. From that time on I was inspired to compete for Australia one day, so this really is a dream come true.”
Pelham completed his apprenticeship at Fenix with George Calombaris, Raymond Capaldi and Gary Mehigan. Since then he has worked in London under Philip Howard at The Square and Kitchen W8, with Calombaris at The Press Club and The Hellenic Hotel, and as Pickett’s head chef at The Estelle.
He has been executive chef at RACV Resort Cape Schanck for the past three years.
Bocuse d’Or Australia president Tom Milligan says Pelham impressed the selection committee with his focus, drive and dedication, as well as his extraordinary cooking talent.
“Josh competed very well this year in both the Thierry Marx Career Development Award and also the chef of the year competition at Foodservice Australia,” Milligan said.
“In chef of the year, Josh was runner-up to Michael Cole, who competed for Australia in January, and I believe he has both the tenacity and the talent for Bocuse d’Or.”
Next year’s Bocuse d’Or Asia-Pacific selection will see five out of 12 teams selected to test their skills against some of the best chefs in the world, in Lyon in January 2021.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 24 September 2019
