Television chefs aren’t the only ones who get handed baskets of mystery ingredients to whip up culinary magic. During the sixth-annual Superyacht Chef Competition in Monaco in a few weeks, nine yacht chefs will have to prepare fine-dining dishes worthy of being served aboard their own vessel. What’s more, a panel of judges ranging from fellow yacht chefs to renowned restaurant chefs will keep score.
The Superyacht Chef Competition is a program within the Monaco Yacht Club’s La Belle Classe Academy training center. The center has been offering programs for chefs as well as owners and industry professionals since 2015. With the support of the crew-placement agency Bluewater, it organizes the cooking competition at the yacht club each year.
The chefs this year work aboard yachts ranging from 118 to 318 feet (36 to 97 meters). Don’t mistake a longer length as an advantage for one chef over another. In fact, come the event on April 3, each chef has just five minutes to come up with a recipe after seeing the ingredients. Furthermore, they must use every item in the basket. Failure to do so results in a penalty, to underscore the importance of not wasting food. Finally, testing the chefs’ quick thinking and creativity even more, the public can add a surprise ingredient.
The audience, comprised of the chefs’ fellow crewmembers and other invited guests, get to vote on the best presentation. Ultimately, though, an international jury of cooking professionals decide the winner of the annual Superyacht Chef Competition. Hailing from France, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, and Brazil, the judges scrutinize presentation, flavors, and more.
Francesco Federico Benassi, the chef aboard the 164-foot (50-meter) yacht Almax, is among the competitors. “For me, this competition is more than a challenge,” he says. “It’s an opportunity to push my limits, learn from incredible chefs, and create dishes that tell my story.” Benassi additionally says that cooking is how he enjoys expressing himself. One of his strategies is to use seawater when preparing seafood, “to enhance their natural flavors and bring the true essence of the ocean to the plate.”
Superyacht Chef Competition yacht-club-monaco.mc
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