 |
| Source: the Singapore National Culinary Team. The Singapore National Culinary Team beat over 30 countries around the world to win the Culinary Olympics 2016 championship title. The team won gold for both the Cold Display and Hot Cooking segments. It is the first time Singapore has won the Culinary Olympics. From left: Teo Yeow Siang, team captain, from Lavish Catering; Triston Fang, team member, from Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora, Resorts World Sentosa; Alan Wong, team member, from Lavish Catering; team manager Louis Tay from Swissotel Merchant Court; Roy Lim, team member, from Unilever FoodSolutions; and Alex Chong, team member, from The Regent Singapore. |
It's not only Michelin star chefs that Singapore can boast of now. The Singapore National Culinary Team has won the Culinary Olympics 2016, scoring golds for in the Cold Display and Hot Cooking categories, showing that the country's chefs are world-class too.
The Culinary Olympics is one of the most prestigious international culinary competitions in the world. Held in Erfurt, Germany every four years, this year’s edition took place from 21 to 26 October 2016, with 30 of the world’s top national teams participating.
The Singapore National Culinary Team has a stellar reputation in international culinary competitions. It had been training for a year for the competition. The team is led by Chef Louis Tay, Executive Chef, Swissotel Merchant Court, who has a long list of competition accolades. He was also Team Manager when the Singapore National Culinary Team clinched the championship title for the third time at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg.
The team for Culinary Olympics 2016 was handpicked based on experience, commitment and potential. Team Captain Teo Yeow Siang is from Lavish Catering as is team member Alan Wong. The other team members include Triston Fang from Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora, Resorts World Sentosa; Roy Lim of Unilever FoodSolutions and Pastry Chef Alex Chong who is from Regent Hotel.
For the Culinary Olympics, the team has to deliver a Cold Display, setting up an exhibition table comprising four different kinds of finger foods for six people; a cold festive/buffet platter for eight; three different starters for one; an lacto-ovo vegetarian three-course lunch menu for one; and a festive menu for one. A separate pastry setup must also be displayed, including a show item, four different individual plated desserts for one, plus a display of sweet biscuits, chocolates, petits-fours or friandises (Editor's note: the plate of sweets or pastries served at the very end of a meal).
The second part of the competition is the hot cooking segment. The team has to prepare 110 portions of a three-course meal – an appetiser (with seafood/fish as main ingredient or a combination of both), a main course using butcher’s meat, poultry or game, or a combination thereof; and dessert featuring contrasting textures and temperatures.
Tay said a culinary competition of this level is both emotionally and physically intense. "The team has sacrificed a lot of time and sleep. There are so many people we need to thank. Firstly, the Singapore Chefs’ Association for backing us up and the sponsors who made all this possible. We are very grateful to our mentors, who have also spent a lot of time walking this journey with us, refining our dishes so we can reach perfection. And lastly, the team members and their families for committing so many months of their life to this mission. We are proud (of) our performance, and for representing Singapore the best way possible,” he said.
Interested?
Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post about Lavish Catering's launch of premium catering services
