All cookery crazy? When it comes to fine food, no-one is immune! From cookery classes and competitions, to box sets of recipes and TV programmes… Gastronomy has never been so popular! Within this booming trend, the Bocuse d’Or has become the world’s most prestigious cookery competition.

Imagine a football stadium filled with pumped-up supporters. Now put a roof over it. Then replace the pitch with twelve mini-kitchens placed side by side in front of more than 2400 enthusiastic spectators, replace the players with ultra-experienced professional chefs, and the ball with the ingredients… And keep the fun going for 5 hours and 35 minutes precisely. This could sum up the Bocuse d’Or in a nutshell!

This culinary tournament - with 24 countries in the lists - thanks to the creation of nearly 60 national pre-selections and three continental selections, provided the opportunity to take the discovery of new gastronomic cultures even further. It is so spectacular that the chefs dedicate months to fine tuning their recipes and their presentations, even if it means forgetting their private lives until D-day. Their passion and commitment is complete - just like in watchmaking.

But with our senses dazzled by these wonders, we can sometimes forget that the Bocuse d’Or 2011 is first and foremost an opportunity to reveal this "other side of the coin", putting the spotlight on those who work in the background, and whose talent receives special recompense simply through being there on centre stage. A whole world beavers away behind the scenes, a world without which the magic could not work: just like in watchmaking.

Over the years, the Bocuse d’Or has become the world’s greatest cookery competition. Sharing the passion for local specialities, respect for quality, taste for innovation, beauty and style with a practical purpose, Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot, had no hesitation in supporting the event once more (the brand was already a competition partner last year, when it was held in Geneva) and in committing the brand to be the "Official Timekeeper" of the competition, to set the tempo with genuine elegance!

In Lyon’s Halle Garnier on 26 January, at the Gala evening to round off the competition proceedings, the winner, the Danish Rasmus Kofoed, had the pleasure of receiving a Hublot Classic Fusion zirconium ceramic watch.