Chef Guillaume has been cooking for soldiers in the barracks overlooking Poitiers for 20 years. Passionate, he is the winner of the most prestigious cooking competitions in the world, including the Golden Trident. He wants to pass on his know-how at the service of the new generation. Encounter.
2022 Basque Pelota World Championships
It never stops. If not in the kitchens of the Aboville barracks in Poitiers, chef Guillaume is abroad to participate in a cooking competition. Or at the Fourriers school in Querqueville in Normandy, where he trains future employees.
This Monday he just returned from a trip to Paris. “I participated in a charity evening organized by CEMAT in Les Invalides “ (the Chief of Staff of the Army, ed), explains the cook. “We raised money for soldiers wounded in combat“, indicate.
During this prestigious evening, he reunited with former Elysee chef Guillaume Gomez and high profile chef Thierry Marx. “We had already met in other competitions. Since he is very close to the armies, we meet often. They are public figures who remain above all cooks like me“.
Cook, has been officially for nearly thirty years. Unofficially, it all started in his mother’s kitchen when he was a child. “I was always behind my mother when she cooked “, remember the one who is the last of a family of three. List, in memory of him, the dishes that his mother cooked. “Blanquettes, sauteed veal, beef bourguignon“.
I have always deeply respected the sacrifice of the soldiers who are committed to protecting France.
In 1996 he began his cooking studies. Chef Guillaume started as an apprentice in an Italian restaurant in Saumur (Maine-et-Loire). Five years later, a seasoned employee with extensive experience in culinary establishments, he applied for the military as a catering agent. “My brother-in-law told me the army was recruiting. I have always deeply respected the sacrifice of the soldiers who are committed to protecting France”, Slips the civilian now at the service of the armies. In 2008 he became second in the kitchen and a year later he took on the chef’s hat. “Yes, it was very fast”, The young chef abounds, acknowledging that he has sometimes had“ generational conflicts ”. “I’ve supervised people older than me. I felt more advanced than others. But overall everything was fine“.
At home, when he was a child, there were five of them. Today it still is. Married, chef Guillaume is the father of three daughters. In the barracks, he cooks daily quantities for an entire regiment. This Monday it will be necessary to cook with precision “38 kg of pork chops, 18 kg of cod, 20 kg of Camargue rice“. Add to that “three liters of liquid cream”, To feed the 277 soldiers on duty. “And we don’t waste anything. Us usually”, Specifies the Chef. 80% of the products come from the EDA, the army commissioner, and the remaining 20% from the Poitou horticulturists. “For fresh products we favor the short circuit“.
Some time after he became a chef, a commander who was particularly satisfied with his work offered him to participate in military cooking competitions. In addition, Chef Guillaume is a regular at individual podiums. He is notably the winner of the Tipiak Prize. “At first I felt like an imposter”Says the 41-year-old chef.
However, the commander’s intuition is correct. With each participation of him, Chef Guillaume stands out from his competitors. In 2017 he participated for the first time in the Golden trident. There is inter-armed cooking competition organized by the Commissariat of the Armed Forces is organized within the prestigious Paul Bocuse Institute of Lyon Écully. He finished in third place and walked away with the title of the silver trident.
A customer eats even before tasting the dish: he smells, looks at it, sees the dish before eating it. For all these reasons it must be beautiful, good, light.
Two years later, in 2019, it is the consecration. For his second participation in the Golden Trident, chef Guillaume won the competition in pairs. A victory that the Chef owes to the dishes he made, or his “Andalusian tour” it’s a “cooked can on the trunk”, He recites from memory three years later.
This victory is actually just the beginning of Chef Guillaume’s saga in culinary competitions. From now on, he is preparing to conquer international competitions. In 2019 he joined the French military kitchen team to participate in the world cooking championships. They are held annually in Fort Lee in the United States. This is the year of victory for France. Among the 22 international teams, the tricolor lotto is crowned champion of France thanks to its team of two military chefs and two civil society chefs, including chef Guillaume.
In cooking competitions I always defend French cuisine. It is part of our heritage. I want to promote France wherever I go.
During the cooking competitions in which he participates, chef Guillaume has only one idea in mind: to defend the French culinary heritage. “I try to make a difference, to import techniques and recipes with me. Here’s how we stand out “. “But hey, I can’t put a Poitou broyé in all my desserts”, Launches this Poitevin of the heart, with a smile. “You always have to adapt and when I cook, I adapt. I am also thinking of the overseas territories”, Explains the Chef. He assures us that he particularly likes to prepare a typical Rougail sausage from Reunion Island or the famous Tahitian salad from French Polynesia. On the right wrist, a blue-white-red bracelet that never takes off.
Thanks to his competing successes, chef Guillaume enjoys a completely new media exposure, which inevitably reflects on the Poitiers-Saint-Maixent barracks. When questioned, Captain Adeline acknowledges that the Chef is a showcase for the Poitou barracks. “I tell everyone to come and see how good the food is here. It is a matter of pride to have a great chef just for us“.
Gifted in the kitchen, he is also and above all gifted in transmitting his passion. As head chef, Guillaume has to regularly train new employees. Franck, the director of services at the Aboville barracks, prides himself on his teaching qualities. “We are very understaffed, so it transforms a lot in the kitchens. You always have to explain, train, rephrase when necessary. And the Chef always succeeds. He always manages to adapt. “
Chef Guillaume has been collaborating regularly with the Poitiers training center for apprentices for several years. Objective: to make the professions better known within the army and to convince the younger generations to serve. “We need to recruit, we need more people in the kitchen, and I’m trying to show that we don’t just eat potatoes in the army. You can also eat good food there.”, Defends chef Guillaume.
