SINGAPORE'S finalist in the culinary equivalent of the Olympics in France next January has been given a taste of what it will take to succeed in the big contest.

Chef Jason Tan, 26, who will represent Singapore in the Bocuse d'Or, the most prestigious cooking competition for individual chefs, was able to get his hands on Norwegian seafood this week, which is in a key dish he must cook to impress the judges.

Tan, the chef de partie (head of kitchen) at fine-dining restaurant Julien Bompard in Finlayson Green, was presented with the seafood by chef Eyvind Hellstrom, president of the Bocuse d'Or Europe, at the Institute of Technical Education College West (Clementi Campus).

The air-flown ingredients, worth $1,200, include three Atlantic cod fish, 45 hand-picked scallops and 3kg of wild prawns. These premium Norwegian seafood items are not readily available in Singapore.

The gift was sponsored by the Norwegian Seafood Export Council, which is also sponsoring the seafood used at the competition for the sixth time.

The biennial championship in Lyon, France, with preliminary rounds in Europe and Asia - Bocuse d'Or Europe and Bocuse d'Or Asia - was started in 1987 by legendary French chef Paul Bocuse.

The 24 Bocuse finalists are expected to create a seafood dish based on these three ingredients, as well as a meat dish using Aberdeen Angus beef from Scotland, during the 51/2-hour cooking competition.

Chef Tan said: 'I'm happy to have a chance to experiment with these ingredients because I don't usually get to work with them.'

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!