Scottish Chefs Team Takes Double Silver at Culinary Olympics
The Scottish Chefs team competing at the IKA/Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart this week has collected two silvers in the main competitions: Restaurant of the Nations and Chef’s Table.
32 National Senior teams from across the globe gathered together for this unique competition – the oldest, largest and most diverse international culinary arts competition in the world.
Kevin MacGillivray, President of Scottish Chefs, said: “We should be immensely proud of our team delivering absolutely outstanding results on this international stage – proudly representing our country and bringing that unique Scottish flair to the table. It’s a huge honour to compete at the IKA/Culinary Olympics – the event is truly one of a kind, and was full of the Olympic spirit.”
In the competition, the national teams were assigned tasks where they could showcase style, the cooking tradition from their own country and the skills of the individual team members. The jury closely examined every detail. In addition to the overall creative performance, perfection, precision and an excellent taste in the food prepared, the jurors also assessed time management, work organisation, cleanliness in the kitchen, and the final presentation of the food.
The Scottish team’s philosophy was ‘from land and sea to plate’ – reinforcing a passion for the finest, freshest Scottish seasonal produce cooked with love and care. The team presented modern British cuisine and an appreciation of the world’s best quality ingredients available from Scotland’s fantastic natural larder.
Restaurant of the Nations: (a three-course menu for 110 people) Scotland presented a sumptuous including Gigha Halibut, shrimp miso butter, mousseline, langoustine, seaweed tartlet, broccoli and langoustine sauce to start; Scottish Borders roe deer loin, sausage, ragout onion, red cabbage puree, semolina gnocchi for main; and Rhubarb mousse, pistachio, poached rhubarb, stem ginger ice cream and choux to finish.
Chef’s Table: (seven different dishes for twelve people) Scotland delivered a mouth-watering selection of platters and finger food showcasing Scottish lobster, sea trout, smoked haddock, poached turbot, saddle of Scotch lamb, Scotch beef, whisky and nori seaweed infused Loch Duart salmon, and honey and peanut nougatine for dessert.
Sixty jurors from the participating countries evaluated the performance of the teams to decide on gold, silver and bronze awards.
Team captain, Orry Shand, from Entier Food Services in Aberdeen, said: “We are immensely proud of our result on the world cooking stage. We all worked extremely hard to achieve this and I thank all the team members and Scottish Chefs for the organisation. The quality of the produce that we used from Scotland was first class and I thanks all our sponsors for their outstanding support.
Scotland’s Culinary Olympic Team in Stuttgart:
Captain: Orry Shand, Entier Food Services, Aberdeen
Vice-Captain: Derek Johnstone, Borthwick Castle Hotel, Edinburgh
Team members: Craig Palmer and Rory Taylor from Entier Food Services, Aberdeen; Graham Mitchell, Newmacher Inn, Aberdeenshire; Jamie Mackinnon, Seafood Ristorante, St Andrews; Shona Sutherland, Taystful, Blairgowrie; Bronwyn Murray, Prestonfield House Hotel, Edinburgh
Young chefs: Eilidh Smith and Terri Scott from Fife College, Hannah Brown, Edinburgh
About The IKA/Culinary Olympics:
The IKA/Culinary Olympics boasts a long history – its origins date back to the year 1900. What started as a competitive exhibition has developed into an international event now in its 25th year. The competition was held in Stuttgart for the first time, and also concurrently with INTERGASTRA 2020, the leading trade fair for the hotel and restaurant industry.
To find out more, visit www.olympiade-der-koeche.com/en and follow @IKAOlympics #IKA2020 #intergastra2020 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.