To be the Best of the Best! Euroskills 2008
euroskills.jpg From 18 till 20 of September the biggest job event of Europe took place in the Ahoy in Rotterdam. There where more then 400 young people who shined out in 49 different professions, coming from 30 different European countries. From hairdresser to web designer and from bricklayer to electrical engineering, from nurse to gardener and from truck driver to a florist. Dennis Huwaë, Junior Sous-Chef of Ciel Bleu kitchen, fought together with 10 young people for the title of ‘Best European professional’ in their specialism. Princes Maxima attended the official opening ceremony and opened the first official competition day on Thursday the 18th of September.  The Ahoy in Rotterdam was transformed into one of the biggest working places where whole houses were build and complete kitchens were created, in order to practice all different professions.

Dennis attended the the Cook & Serve part with 10 other countries. Together with Kim Poortman, hostess at Restaurant Hotel Merlet in Schoorl, Dennis formed one team. Both were individually judged but they also got a judgment as a team. Onno Kokmeijer, Executive Chef & Manager of Ciel Bleu, was both the expert of Dennis and one of the judges.

On the first day of the competition the chefs had to make 4 different kinds of Finger Food, 10 of each kind. They had to prepare one fish item, one meat item, one Asian item and one vegetarian item. After the finger foods where served as a lunch at the restaurant, the rest of the day was used to prepare a 4 course meal for the next day. Already soon it became clear that Austria, Ireland and Norway were the biggest competitors of Dennis.

The second day was a very heavy and long day where all chefs had to prepare a 4 course menu for the guest in the restaurant, which was served by Kim. The menu existed of Sole with Shi-Take, a white wine sauce and red beet as a starter, followed by a crème soup of green asparagus as entremets, furthermore a rob of veal with triple cooked potato,  two kinds of vegetables and a sauce of béarnaise as main course. For dessert a tuille of red fruit with a mouse of white chocolate and warm fiancier of plumb.

On the third day the chefs had one more assignment to fulfill, which was to roast poultry served at the table as a whole. This all went very well for Dennis. After this assignment everything could be cleared and cleaned and the participant now had to wait untill the end of the day for the results of the judges and the final ceremony.  

You could really feel the tension of all participants at the final ceremony, but the enthusiasm was also overwhelming. After waiting for a long time the results were announced and Dennis became second in his specialism and won silver medal! Also as a team Dennis and Kim made it to the second position. Kim got a deserved third position. Austria became first and Ireland shared the second position with Dennis. In general it was a very successful event for the Dutch team as they have won 18 golden, 9 silver and 6 bronze medals. 

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At the end of the day, Euroskills 2008 was a very heavy but interesting and successful event in Rotterdam!

With Culinary greetings,

The team of Ciel Bleu

 

To get a good impression of the Ciel Bleu Restaurant we kindly invite you to have a look at the photo's and films .

Follow Executive chef Onno Kokmeijer and his team searching for the best.

An exceptional culinary experience , get a glimpse into the culinary secrets of the Ciel Bleu Restaurant.