Chef Philippe Mouchel remembers friend and mentor Paul Bocuse

I started working for Paul Bocuse in 1976. I was 26 years old and, up until then, had spent much of my training working in small restaurants in various French cities. I was working at the Hotel Frantel in Bordeaux when I met Roger Jaloux, the chef de cuisine at Restaurant Paul Bocuse at Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or in Lyon. Jaloux offered me a job there, which I accepted immediately.

Back then, I did not know much about Bocuse, except for his famous truffle soup created in 1975 for then French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing. I had also never set foot in a three-Michelin-star restaurant. I did not know what to expect, but I remember being excited at the opportunity.

One of the first dishes I learned to make at Restaurant Paul Bocuse was the truffle soup. When Jaloux showed me the soup, it was not what I had imagined. In Normandy, where I was born, a soup is more like a puree of mixed vegetables, so I always thought the soup was made simply of pureed truffles. On the contrary, it required a great deal of finesse and technique. It was made of clear beef consomme with a mirepoix of uniformly diced vegetables, foie gras and freshly sliced truffles before being covered with buttered puff pastry.

My first day at Restaurant Paul Bocuse is one that I will remember forever. I arrived at Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or shortly before lunch service and received a warm welcome by Bocuse, Madame Raymonde Bocuse and Paul Bocuse's mother.

I started as a commis at the fish station. One dish I was responsible for was the bar en croute (sea bass encased in pastry), a signature Bocuse dish. From 8am until late, six days a week, I gutted hundreds and thousands of fish. Puff pastry was also made by the fish station and used not only for the bar en croute, but for the truffle soup and pigeon en feuillete (squab in puff pastry).

Sometimes I was so busy I did not have enough time to rest the pastry. This meant that the pastry failed to rise, ruining several of the restaurant's famous dishes all at once. When I made this mistake, Monsieur Paul, a perfectionist, lost his temper and made sure that I did not repeat the same mistake.

I made many mistakes during my time at the restaurant and was yelled at by Monsieur Paul often. Despite his short temper, he was a dedicated teacher, taking time to explain each step and making sure all his chefs mastered the most simple to the most difficult techniques. He truly wanted his cooks to learn and succeed. He was a mentor that I aspired to be.

Working there could be tough at times, but I loved the rush I felt.

Monsieur Paul always made sure the restaurant used quality and seasonal ingredients. He chose the produce himself and went to market every morning at 6am. He truly treasured local produce from the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region such as Bresse chicken, Charolais beef, duck, pigeon, cream, goat's cheese and the vegetables from his garden. He wanted the produce to speak for itself.

During the 1980s, he introduced "la nouvelle cuisine". Monsieur Paul wanted French cuisine to be lighter in sauces and preparation. Many chefs tried to interpret this new style and many went too far. Portions became too small and many created strange combinations of flavours. Monsieur Paul always stayed true to his roots. These are the values I took with me when he sent me to Japan in 1978 and later to open Restaurant Paul Bocuse in Melbourne in 1991.

Paul Bocuse will be remembered as the king of French cuisine. It is a cuisine that has changed because of him and I owe him a great deal. I will miss him dearly.

Merci Monsieur Paul, for making me the chef that I am today.

Philippe Mouchel is chef and restaurateur at Philippe, Melbourne. He will host a tribute to Paul Bocuse on February 16 (booked out) and February 17. Dinner is $95 a head for four courses. Bookings: philipperestaurant.com.au/events