Australia’s John McFadden to compete in World Food Championships

Well-known Aussie chef John McFadden will soon be flying to the US to compete in the ‘ultimate food fight and flavour fest experience’ – the annual World Food Championships to be held in Dallas, Texas in November.

The World Food Championships sees culinary competitors of previous events convene for a chance at winning a share of hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money. In 2021 the event attracted more than 1,500 cooks from six countries.

The Australian championships were held in Sydney in May and John won the seafood category. “To apply, you had to submit a signature recipe with a story behind it,” he tells us.  

The story behind his recipe – Prawn and Snapper Ravioli with Pea Puree, Prawn Butter and Yarra Valley Smoked Caviar – is that it was designed for a brain cancer fundraising event. “It’s quite unusual to create a dish for a charity organisation that wins you a championship and enables you to cook overseas,” John says. “It’s really nice to be able to raise money for a worthy cause and at the same time compete on the world stage!”

After his entry was shortlisted, John participated in a virtual cooking competition during the tail end of Covid, followed by a live competition in Sydney. “I went from the top ten into the top five, then we had a cook-off to decide the top three, and I cooked my dish in that and won the World Championship title for seafood in Sydney. The result of that was a golden ticket to compete at the World Food Championships in Dallas.”

John is now in the top 30 contestants – “If I get through the next round I’ll be in the top 10 who then battle it out in a cook-off.” He flies out on November 6 and will compete against 29 others in the seafood category on the 10th. The ultimate challenge is the Final Table – where each category winner is invited back at a separate event to determine the World Champion, to be held in Spring next year.