The Price Of The Michelin Star, Coveted By Every MasterChef

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Every chef would like to have the highest recognition - the Michelin star, just as every scientist would like to win the Nobel Prize. This leads to instant fame and crowds of visitors to the restaurant where he works. Those of them who own three Michelin stars become unspoken members of the small club of the world's most elite bosses.

This star is definitely an indication that the chef did the best in the respective restaurant.

Going back in time, at the end of the 19th century, a French company called Michelin began producing car tires under its own patent. At that time, the cars were still few in number (about 3,000) and to arouse interest in cars, the two brothers Andre and Edward Michelin decided to publish a free guide for drivers named Michelin Guide. It offers information that every motorist needed - maps, repair instructions, tire changes, etc. and, of course, a list of good hotels where one could stay and eat.

In time, the two Michelin brothers published a guide to Belgium, Algeria, Tunisia, the Alps, Bavaria, the Netherlands, and later to Germany, Spain, and Italy. The main color of this guide is accepted to be red.

The restaurants did not appear in the Michelin guide as a separate unit until 1920, and six years later the best of them began to be awarded a star, and in 1931 the second and third stars were added. Each awarded star equals a very good restaurant, two stars equals excellent cooking, deserving of a detour, and three stars correspond to exceptional cuisine that deserves a special trip.

The stars are awarded only for the quality of the food, and for the atmosphere and the service the so-called covers, i.e. utensils, this is a kind of icon with the image of a fork and spoon and are in different colors, black or red. The latter are for extremely good service and comfort.

For the prize Michelin star are specially trained anonymous inspectors who visit the establishment and give their assessment. They have a university degree or have professional experience in the food industry and hotel management, have an intellect, a taste memory with which to compare a dish at the time of eating or which they tried more than six months ago.

After visiting a restaurant, they prepare an analysis, giving their impressions in writing. It is never known which restaurant will be visited by a Michelin inspector at what time. This is always kept a deep secret. Until a few years ago, inspectors were not allowed to give interviews, they were always shrouded in secrecy, including the obligation not to disclose to their relatives the nature of their work.

When an inspector visits a restaurant, he follows some simple principles when ordering food. Most often the choice is on dishes that are prepared with more ingredients and products. In this way, they will be convinced of the complexity and skills of the chefs and their teams. You never order a salad, but very rarely soup. The emphasis is on main dishes and dessert.

Each served food is monitored to ensure that it is prepared perfectly and technically correctly, the structure of the dish and last but not least - the creativity of the chef, ie his handwriting, which must be individual.

Restaurants that are awarded a third star are visited at most 8 to 10 times a year and always by different inspectors. They then write relevant reports, based on which it is decided how many stars to be awarded.

The most stellar restaurants are in France and this is completely understandable -

France is proud of its best cuisine. Followed by Japan - 26, USA, Germany, Spain. It is interesting that China also has its star restaurants, as many as 9, followed by Great Britain, Switzerland, etc.

The Michelin star is comparable to the expectation of the Oscars.

For many bosses, Michelin is a dream come true, but at the same time it is a double-edged sword. The chefs and their teams are extremely tense - one to keep the star they dream of, and on the other hand - from the much work and tension that creates this kind of perfectionism. They are obliged to maintain a high level, and the possible loss could have catastrophic consequences and lead to bankruptcy.

In an interview with the notorious Gordon Ramsey, who until recently owned three Michelin stars, he answers the question of what he would do if he found out that his assistant was to blame for the failure of a prepared dish: I would take him to the most beautiful Norwegian fjord and take him drowning there.

British MasterChef Marco Pierre White after three Michelin stars gives them up and withdraws from cooking. He is aware and realizes that with these stars he has achieved his goals, but also made huge sacrifices in personal relations with his family, in his life for the sake of his career. He realizes that he is a kind of prisoner of his own world, to work non-stop six days a week, to be inseparable from the kitchen and his staff of helpers and not to have time for his relatives, his children and to lose his personal space.

This is the price of the Michelin star for most of his colleagues - it is a choice of life, the battle for a star is always life and death, and history proves it. This dream star also took the life of an exceptional MasterChef - Mr. Loazo, who won three Michelin stars, but later lost his position as a French culinary guru, fell into a deep depression and his story ended fatally - only 52 years old, he decided to interrupt his life.

Michelin stars are also fear and despair, delight and triumph, for every chef it is prestigious to have the much desired star "Meshlen".