Chilean Chef Mauricio Eduardo Nunez Diaz to open Bocuse d'Or

Chef Mauricio Eduardo Nunez Diaz of Chile is the opening competitor on Tuesday at Bocuse d'Or, a contest worth calling the World Cup of gastronomy. Chile is represented for the first time.

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Nunez Diaz is the manager of the SU Grill &Wine Restaurant and a three-time winner of the national gastronomy competition in his country. In the competition catalogue, he admits the major influence of Chef Paul Bocuse, the founder of Bocuse d'Or.

The 24 teams will compete at 10-minute intervals over two days, on Tuesday and Wednesday; each group representing one country has its own perimeter.

Jury members and 2,500 fans will witness the creation of the dishes. The competing order is the following: Chile, Australia, Iceland, the United Kingdom, France, Guatemala, Argentina, Spain, the United States, Estonia, Switzerland and Morocco on Day 1 (Tuesday).

The representative of Australia, Chef Shannon Kellam, works at the Brisbane Club; he loves cooking fish and seafood. Icelander Sigurdur Helgason is the gold medallist of the Gastronomy Olympics. British Adam Bennett is the chef of The Cross, a restaurant in Kenilworth; pigeon is his favourite fowl. French Nicolas Davouze is also inspired by Bocuse; he calls this chef 'a Pope of gastronomy,' and worked with him for four years. Victor Hugo Velasquez Hernandez of Guatemala chose cooking as a profession owing to his mother's meals; he now works at the El Prior restaurant of the Museo Casa Hotel of Santo Domingo.

Argentina's representative Emiliano Javier Schobert is the chef and owner of the El Obrador restaurant in Patagonia. He had to choose between cuisine and teaching when he was just 17. Spanish Alberto Moreno was deemed chef of the year in his country;...