Geir Skeie
Encyclopedia
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
, winner of the 2008 Bocuse d'Or
Bocuse d'Or
The Bocuse d'Or is a biennial world chef championship. Named for the chef Paul Bocuse, the event takes place during two days near the end of January in Lyon, France at the SIRHA International Hotel, Catering and Food Trade Exhibition, and is one of the world's most prestigious cooking...
Europe, and the 2009 Bocuse d'Or world final.
Career
Skeie is a chef de cuisine at Mathuset Midtåsen Solvold in SandefjordSandefjord
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838...
, owned by 1997 Bocuse d'Or bronze medallist Odd Ivar Solvold, and has previously worked at restaurants Le Canard, Solsiden and Palace Grill in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and at Skarsnuten hotel in Hemsedal
Hemsedal
Hemsedal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym. In 1897, Hemsedal was separated from the municipality of Gol to become a municipality of its own.Hemsedal is the...
.
Skeie made the decision to pursue the Bocuse d'Or in 1993 when watching Bent Stiansen
Bent Stiansen
Bent Stiansen is a Norwegian chef, who in 1993 became the first Scandinavian gold medal winner of the Bocuse d'Or....
appear on the television program of Ingrid Espelid Hovig
Ingrid Espelid Hovig
Ingrid Espelid Hovig is a Norwegian television chef and author of cook books. Through appearances on her cooking show Fjernsynskjøkkenet over 26 years, between 1970 and 1996, she came to be considered the "culinary mother" of Norway, with the comparison "the Julia Child of Norway" often...
having become the first Norwegian to win the contest, and subsequently worked towards this goal for fifteen years, spending the last two years perfecting the winning recipe. In contrast to his fellow candidates in the 2009 finals who had lodgings in Lyon for making last preparations, Skeie rented a large semi-trailer truck
Semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine , and a semi-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) articulated truck...
with an installed training kitchen. He was coached by Odd Ivar Solvold and assisted by the commis Adrian Løvold.
After the contest, Skeie stated he was 90% satisfied with his performance. The gold medal was won with a score of 1020 points, a comfortable margin over Swedish silver medalist Jonas Lundgren, who scored 994 points.