Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse passes on culinary knowledge to Hong Kong trainee chefs

Celebrated chef Alain Ducasse celebrated the 10th birthday of his Hong Kong outlet Spoon with a present – not to himself, but to 12 of the city’s most talented trainee chefs.

The students got to spend a morning in the kitchen with Ducasse and the Spoon team, helped prepare a lunch for the local media and participated in a Q&A session at which they could ask any questions they liked about Ducasse, cooking, and advancing their own culinary careers.

The Frenchman’s own career has been little short of stellar. Born in 1956 in the Landes area of France, Ducasse grew up with ingredients such as foie gras and boletus mushrooms. The area is also the home of Michel Guérard, the chef who invented spa cuisine, and was one of Ducasse’s early employers.

Other employers included Alain Chapel and Roger Verge, but Ducasse also spent a year working for chocolate maker Gaston Le Nôtre.

His interest in chocolate has resurfaced with the opening of a chocolate labouratory in Paris that processes cocoa into chocolate bars. He has also created dishes for astronauts on the International Space Station. Coffee roasting is one of Ducasse’s next projects.

By the age of 40, Ducasse had three Michelin stars to his name at Le Louis XV-Alain Ducasse and had opened his first restaurant in Paris.