What’s that you said??
There’s an Olympic Games for cookery?! HOLD MY BEER!

by MARTIN BOUCHIER - ACF NT Director

The Culinary Olympics, which began as a showcase back in 1900, has become a benchmark for new styles of food preparation and is now an inspirational international event held every four  years in Germany.

Sous vide came from this, spherification came from this - modern day alchemy that becomes the norm starts off with a chef being inspired.

Starting at around the same time as the Olympic Games, the Culinary Olympics sees teams from around the world gather together to compete in a multitude of classes, each striving to be the best.

Australia competed for the first time in 1968 when a team of six chefs travelled for the honours and this has led us to where we are today.

Set up by the Australian Culinary Federation, our current National Culinary Olympics Team consists of two squads, junior and senior. These will head to Germany to battle against the rest of the world and bring culinary glory back home to this wonderful country.

It comes at a cost: the chefs don’t get paid to do this. They must spend countless hours travelling and training to make that dish just that bit better, discuss ideas with each other over team meetings online, wake up in the middle of the night with an idea for a tweak to the plate, and beg for a handout to help cover costs at every opportunity.

I know what you’re thinking: surely as a National Team, the Government will assist? Our national carriers will help out with transport? A tiny fraction of a percentage of Lotto will go to the National Team? No! We aren’t the Soccaroos, the Wallabies, the Kangaroos or the Matildas.

The National Culinary Team comprises 18 chefs of all genders and ethnicities, from a variety of backgrounds, wearing the white jacket and toque and competing together as one for the honour of our industry and Australia!

Could you help? Could your company assist? From a small donation of the price of a coffee, to a large one to put towards travel, accommodation, equipment or product, there is an opportunity to get your brand associated with our National Team in the form of logo, promotion, market extension or simply because it’s a charitable donation to a not-for-profit organization.

Use the link https://www.austculinary.com.au/pages/national-culinary-team to see who has helped so far or scan the QR code and buy us a skinny latte!