Great evening for an Auction Item dinner! This is a great way to experiment with plates for our next competition. Thanking Natures Trust Society for there continued support!
Culinary Team B.C. Registers for the Community Catering Competition at the 2020 IKA World Culinary Olympics:
After many years, the format of the Culinary Olympics is changing. To promote transparency, to encourage additional public participation and to eliminate the food waste associated with the cold displays, starting in February of next year the national and junior national teams will no longer be requested to present their traditional cold tables. Instead, the juniors will be presenting an edible buffet and the national teams will be preparing their “Chefs Tables” in front of and for the judges and the public.
Although regional teams will still be required to present traditional cold tables and individual competitors will continue to show their cold culinary artistry, clearly the writing is on the wall and it seems that it is only a matter of time until cold competition, as it has been traditionally known, will be eliminated altogether.
For the past few years a new category has been introduced with ever increasing interest and popularity. To date, the community catering competition has been attended by primarily European corporate catering teams but the event has expanded to include national, regional and military teams from around the globe.
Late last fall, Team BC Managers John Carlo Felicella and James Hutton travelled to the city of Reutlingen near Stuttgart to secure hotel accommodations and kitchen space and to briefly attend the Expogast competition in Luxembourg. The opportunity to observe and photograph the regional cold tables and individual entries for their team gave them insight as to what to expect next year in Stuttgart. They also made visiting the community catering competition site a priority and had the opportunity to spec out the kitchens, converse with the judges, eat two of the competitors meals and generally develop a clearer understanding of the competition.
Upon their return from their journey they determined that Culinary Team British Columbia would not only participate in the regional cold table competition but for the first time a British Columbian team would enter the community catering contest. They have since registered for the competition and paid the mandatory entry fees.
In mid January, John Carlo travelled to Toronto for a day long seminar on the community catering competition hosted by Judge Simon Smotkowicz and the Canadian Culinary Federation. He returned with further insight and the knowledge needed for competitive success. Team BC and a Team from the Northern Alberta Institute will be the first Canadian teams participating in the event
The Community Catering Competition:
Each team will consist of four chef members and two assistants who will be required to develop, cook and serve a menu for 120 persons. The menu should not exceed a food cost of 5 Euros per person and recipes, costing and nutritional breakdown must be provided at the commencement of the competition.
After five hours of from scratch preparation and cooking time the team must present their menu for their guests to choose in a self-serve / cafeteria fashion. A hot line and a cold table are provided and all guest selections must fit on a standard sized cafeteria style tray. One of the main course dishes must be cooked or completed and presented in front of the guest.
The menu must consist of the following
1 salad.
2 varieties of finger foods one of which must be vegetarian.
2 main course meats or 1 meat and 1 fish dish main course selections.
1 vegetarian main course.
2 starch side dishes.
2 vegetable side dishes.
1 dessert.
For further details and additional information:
https://www.worldchefs.org/world-news/8cb24c40edce328b3c9bb94eae3dfe2ebdc03510
https://www.olympiade-der-koeche.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IKA2020_Community_Catering_Teams.pdf
One on One Practice Sessions Begin:
In mid January Team Member Kurt Waddington journeyed from Kelowna to Vancouver for a one on one practice session with Team BC Coach Poyan Danesh in preparation for the regional cold table competition at the 2020 IKA World Culinary Olympics. After three days of focused discussion, seemingly endless experimentation, decision making, preparation and presentation an exhausted but very grateful Kurt proudly presented his three appetizer plates to Team Manager J.C. Felicella, Adviser, Bruno Marti and Assistant Managers Jane Ruddick and James Hutton.
Ask chefs what they think and…..they will tell you…and they did, but all were impressed and in agreement that inroads had been made since the last practice. With some minor suggestions for improvements by the panel, Kurt packed up and readied himself for the trip home with a great new foundation, inovative techniques, a renewed enthusiasm a promise to continue practicing and perfecting his entries.
Kurt and the team management are extremely thankful to Poyan for sharing his skills, his knowledge, his experiences and especially his valuable time. A team is only as good as those who are willing to support and encourage it’s members.
As the upcoming year progresses, the plan is to provide each of the team members similar opportunities for additional training and coaching in preparing for the IKA Culinary Olympics.
Striving for gold, let the games begin
All competitors strive for gold but those who compete in international culinary competition soon realize that there is no room for fragile egos and self confidence is surely fleeting.
Often young competitors need guidance and direction and managers and coaches generally possess that extensive experience and awareness needed. After all, getting battered at practice certainly surpasses being embarrassed by the judging panel in Stuttgart.
After a gathering and team practice at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in mid November, the team members all departed with a clear plan of what was expected of them and how to achieve these objectives Coaches Bruno Marti, Damon Campbell and Poyan Danesh were critical, honest and straightforward in their critiques of the team’s plates and platters. Although most left the meeting feeling more than a little bruised, all returned home with a renewed resolve to perfect their entries for the next session. The Team managers and coaches plan to visit each member in January to monitor the competitor’s progress.
Although the Culinary Olympics are still fourteen months away, advanced organization of accommodations and the securing of kitchen facilities is crucial. On the recommendation of Chef Willie Franz, Manager John Carlo Felicella and Assistant Manager James Hutton travelled to the city of Reutlingen on the outskirts of Stuttgart to inspect and negotiate with the very friendly and obliging people at the Hotel Fortuna. The Hotel all but secured and after visiting Reutlingen, JC and James rode the train to Luxembourg to witness the events of first two days of the Villeroy and Boch Culinary World Cup at Expogast 2018. Hundreds of photos were taken of the cold show to be distributed to the Team BC membership.
The team managers paid particular interest in the community catering competition. This event is relatively new to the competition world but it is expected that in the not too distant future it will become an integral part of all international salons.
After five hours of preparation, teams of four cooks and a manager provide their guests with a self–served selection of hot and cold institutional style foods. Each team is required to prepare and serve the following for 120 persons:
1 – Salad.
2 - Finger foods – one must be vegetarian.
3 - Main courses. (2 meat dishes or 1 meat and 1 fish dish and 1 vegetarian)
2 - Starch accompaniments.
2 - Vegetable accompaniments.
1 – Dessert.
Also teams are required to demonstrate HACCAP temperature monitoring, provide recipes including nutritional breakdown, and provide purchasing details based on a dictated food cost.
Further detailed information is available at olympiade-der-koeche.com
Currently the competition is limited to corporate teams. Nevertheless, this may change and John Carlo has expressed interest in the possibility of entering Team BC in the contest. He will be attending a seminar in Toronto early next year. The seminar will be hosted by Canadian Culinary Federation President, Simon Smotkowicz who will provide details on Canada’s participation at the event.