After the coronation of Frédéric Le Guen-Geffroy, world pâté crust champion last year, France loses its title in 2024! And this one goes to Japan, which had won it during the three previous editions. Monday evening, in Lyon, the fifteenth final of the now famous culinary competition was held. In 2009, when Arnaud Bernollin, Audrey Merle, Gilles Demande and Christophe Marguin, friends and gastronomes from Lyon, decided to create the world pâté en croute championship, everyone laughed in their face.
Fifteen years later, this dish has become fashionable, partly thanks to them. And their championship is making the headlines in gastronomic news. This year, the jury was chaired by two-star chef Stéphanie Le Quellec (La Scène à Paris), surrounded in particular by Christophe Bacquié, based at Mas des Eydins in Bonnieux (Vaucluse), Amandine Chaignot, who revisited another totem dish for athletes during the Paris Olympics, as well as former winners of the competition, such as Frédéric Le Guen-Geffroy or Yohan Lastre, crowned in 2012.
Taiki Mano crowned world pâté encrust champion
They now know the name of their successor: Taiki Mano, who works at the Les Saisons restaurant, located within the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, whose brigade is managed by Thierry Voisin. His “gold leaf pâté, duck, foie gras, pork, sweetbreads and green pepper” clearly made everyone agree. And Japan definitely stands out as the other country of pâté encrust since it is Seigo Ishimoto, from the restaurant Le Cœur in Kobe, who ranks second with his “autumn pâté encrust with the scent of yuzu”, composed, among others, chicken liver, cooked foie gras and trumpets of death.
On the third step of the podium, we find Damien Raymond, officiating at the caterer Daniel Gobet in Divonne-les-Bains (Ain), former winner of the competition.
To Discover
Kangaroo of the day
Answer
For almost three hours, the members of the jury tasted, blindly, fifteen pies from all over Europe (France, United Kingdom, Denmark, etc.) but also from South and North America and, therefore, from Asia. As required by the regulations, each specimen is carefully scrutinized before tasting since the elegance and style – of the piece as a whole but also of the slice once cut – play an important role. The quality and taste of the jelly, the paste and the overall taste harmony are the other evaluation criteria. And in this little game, it's Taiki Mano who wins this year.
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