Close to my heart

In the last note-to-note cooking competition, one of the contestants who was shortlisted and presented his work said he wanted to make a dish that was "close to his heart".

Why not.... but is it a good strategy?

Because in the end, the jury doesn't care what is dear to its heart, and it is the preparations dear to the jury's heart that are important.

All this obviously reminds me of the paradox of the actor of this wonderful Denis Diderot, who explains well that if one dies on stage to represent a character who dies, then one is a bad actor; what one must do to be a good actor, is to give the impression that one dies on stage.

Yes, you have to remain frozen inside to perfectly control the appearance you give, the message you transmit.

In the same way, making a dish that we like is quite secondary. What counts in a contest is that you please the jury!

Of course, if we work on a subject we are passionate about, we will put more energy, more enthusiasm and more time into it than if we do something that bores us.

But we should not confuse the objectives: when we do a competition it is to win it over other competitors, right? However, knowing that everyone is marked by the same jury, the question is above all to know what the criteria of the competition are, what the personal criteria of the jurors are.

These are the real questions!