This weekend, the Château du Clos de Vougeot, the Mecca of French gastronomy, hosted the 3d edition of the Worldwide oeufs en meurette days. The amusing 2-day programme included Burgundy wine tastings, cooking lessons, the Worldwide oeufs en meurette Championship, round table, a gastronomic dinner, and many more.

One of the traditional Burgundy dishes are the oeufs en meurette – which are highly recommended to try if you are in the region! The dish is composed of poached eggs accompanied by a meurette sauce (la meurette – name from the old French “murette” – means sauce and “fry”, brine) or bourguignon sauce, for preparation of which Burgundy red wine, bacon, onions, and shallots browned in butter are needed. The oeufs en meurette is served with toasted garlic bread.

Well, could you imagine that around this very dish the 2-day event which attracts hundreds of participants every year could be created? This year, from October 9 to 10, the Château du Clos de Vougeot organized the third Worldwide oeufs en meurette Championship. Since 1953, this dish, one of the best symbols of Burgundian gastronomy, has been served with every meal for receptions and weddings organized at the château.

On Saturday the 9^th, the amateurs, lovers of the oeufs en meurette, competed to create their best version of the dish. One recipe but many interpretations and revisions of it! Besides, that day the public could attend the tasting session where the oeufs en meurette prepared by the chef of the Château du Clos de Vougeot and Burgundy wine were served.

On Sunday the 10^th, the competition started to take shape as 13 top chefs was competing for the title of Worldwide oeufs en meurette Championship (ranging from Burgundy to Washington D.C., they are a testament to the growing international reputation of the competition):

• Mathieu SCHERRER, chef at Le Murat, Paris.
• Jerome JOUBERT, chef at La Rive Gauche, Joigny.
• Mourad HADDOUCHE, chef at Loiseau des Vignes, Beaune.
• Iza GUYOT, chef at Le Comptoir de Pagny, Pagny-le-Château.
• Eric ZIEBOLD, chef at Kinship, Washington D.C.
• Gregory CUILLERON, chef at Le Cinq Mains, Lyons.
• Franco BOWANEE, chef at Le Louis XIII, Château de Vault de Lugny.
• Christophe QUEANT, chef at Le Carmin, Beaune.
• Olivier CHARDIGNY, chef at L’Ancienne Auberge, Vonnas.
• Chem Hwei GAN, chef at Le Parapluie, Dijon.
• Yves REBSAMEN, chef at Chez Guy, Gevrey-Chambertin.
• Marcel RAVIN, chef at the Blue Bay Restaurant, Monaco.
• Issihaka SYLLA, chef at Le P’tit Canon, Paris.

Commenting on the event and his participation in the championship, Eric Ziebold told: “Once I had the oeufs en meurette when I was in Burgundy on vacation in 1998. So, when I got invited to participate, I thought it would be a great honour to come because this is a recipe that has a lot of tradition, history, and technique for the sauce and the cooking of the egg. So, I thought it would be fun to do my interpretation of the oeufs en meurette.”

Chem Hwei Gan, talked about the competition with a great inspiration: “I wanted to make something different. The oeufs en meurette has its classical Burgundian recipe, but I wanted to show that the old-school recipe can be interpreted in a fresh manner with new ingredients, a different mood and always fine wine.”

Chaired by Guillaume Gomez (Meilleur Ouvrier de France and the President’s personal spokesman for gastronomy, food and culinary arts), the jury with the task of evaluating the chefs’ recipes was made up of 11 reputable personalities in the enogastronomic industry:

• Frederic VARDON, 2019 Oeuf en Meurette World Champion and chef at 39V, Paris.
• Bruno BRANGEA, 2020 Oeuf en Meurette World Champion and chef at Champeaux les Halles, Paris.
• Michel GROBON, formerly chef to President Ronald Regan.
• Jean-Robert PITTE, geographer and food writer.
• Emmanuelle JARY, food journalist.
• Albert II, Prince of Monaco.
• Louise PETITRENAUD, journalist.
• Sebastien NEUSCH, co-founder of Poulehouse.
• Bertrand de VILLAINE, wine-grower.
• Bruno BLANCHO, chef for the SEB group.
• Alexandra BOUVRET, resident chef at the Château du Clos de Vougeot.

The jury members evaluated the oeufs en meurette prepared by each chef individually based on the unified protocol and their expertise. Afterwards, the scores were summed up and the winners were defined.

This year, the winner of the Worldwide oeufs en meurette Championship became Gregory Cuilleron (restaurant Le Cinq Mains, Lyons), the most persistent chef who participated all three times in the competition.

Chef Jerome Joubert, restaurant La Rive Gauche, Joigny, won the prize of creativity 2021 for his interesting dish presentation.

Co-organizer of the Worldwide oeufs en meurette Championship, Thibaud Monfourny, noted: “We are very proud that we have chefs coming from different parts of France and the world. After a year without the public because of the pandemic, we are happy to welcome visitors again and provide them with the opportunity to degustate the famous oeufs en meurette from the Château du Clos de Vougeot. We are grateful to our partners for cooperation, such as Poulehouse, which produces ethical eggs, SEB Groupe, which supplies and produces kitchen utensils, DS Store, a car manufacturer that sponsored the Prize of Creativity, and other local sponsors.”

The organizers of the Worldwide oeufs en meurette Championship warmly invite chefs from different countries, including Ukraine, to participate in the competition next year. All the details and updates in this respect can be found on the official website.

Photo: Bénédicte Maniere

• Albert Ii
• Alexandra Bouvret
• Bertrand De Villaine
• bourguignon sauce
• Bruno Blancho
• Bruno Brangea
• Château du Clos de Vougeot
• Chem Hwei Gan
• Emmanuelle Jary
• Eric Ziebold
• Frederic Vardon
• Gregory Cuilleron
• Guillaume Gomez
• Jean-Robert Pitte
• Jerome Joubert
• Louise Petitrenaud
• meurette sauce
• Michel Grobon
• oeufs en meurette
• Sebastien Neusch
• Thibaud Monfourny
• Worldwide œufs en meurette Championship