LYON (AFP): A 28-year-old Norwegian chef captured the celebrated Bocuse d'Or cooking award Wednesday, beating out Swedish and French rivals in this French city famed for its gastronomic exploits.
Voted chef of the year in his native Norway in 2001 and 2002, Geir Skeie cinched the top prize of the biannual global contest here that has been dubbed the Olympic gold medal of cooking.
Skeie, who is currently chef at the Mathuset Solvold restaurant in Sandefjord, southern Norway, trumped Sweden's Jonas Lundgren and France's Philippe Mille, who earned the silver and bronze prizes, respectively, organisers announced.
 His talents earned Skeie a golden statue of French cooking master Paul Bocuse, whom the competition is named after, along with 20,000 euros (26,000 dollars).
"It's the best meal I have ever cooked," Skei crowed to Norway's NTB news agency after having served it up.
Some 24 chefs from around the world sweated over hot stoves for more than five-and-a-half hours during the contest, creating dishes based on the Scottish Aberdeen Angus Beef, fresh cod, scallops and wild shrimp from Norway.
This is the fourth time a Norwegian chef has won the top prize in just 12 editions of the culinary contest. Norwegian chefs have also captured second place twice, and third place once.
France remains number one in overall awards, capturing the top prize six times and second prize twice over the years.
The gastronomic event takes place in public before supporters from the same countries as the contestants.
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