Source: the Singapore National Culinary Team. The Singapore National Culinary Team outperformed over 30 countries to become the champions of the Culinary Olympics 2016. The team achieved gold medals in both the Cold Display and Hot Cooking categories, proving the country’s chefs are world-class. 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.

Singapore isn’t just known for Michelin star chefs anymore. The nation’s culinary team secured victory at the Culinary Olympics 2016, winning gold in both Cold Display and Hot Cooking, demonstrating their world-class skills.

The Culinary Olympics is a highly respected global culinary competition. Occurring in Erfurt, Germany every four years, the 2016 event took place from October 21st to 26th. 30 of the world’s best national teams competed.

The Singapore National Culinary Team has an excellent track record in international culinary competitions and dedicated a year to training for this event. Leading the team is Chef Louis Tay, Executive Chef at Swissotel Merchant Court. Chef Tay holds numerous competition honors and served as Team Manager when the team previously won the championship title at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg three times.

The 2016 Culinary Olympics team was carefully selected based on expertise, dedication, and potential. Team Captain Teo Yeow Siang and team member Alan Wong are both from Lavish Catering. Other members include: Triston Fang from Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora, Resorts World Sentosa; Roy Lim from Unilever FoodSolutions; and Pastry Chef Alex Chong from Regent Hotel.

For the Culinary Olympics, teams must create a Cold Display, a visually appealing table showcasing four finger food varieties for six people. They also need to present a cold buffet platter for eight, three different single-serving starters, a three-course lacto-ovo vegetarian lunch for one, and a festive menu for one. Additionally, a separate pastry display is required, featuring a showpiece item, four distinct plated desserts, and an arrangement of sweets like biscuits, chocolates, petits-fours, or friandises, which are small sweets served at a meal’s end.

The competition’s second stage involves hot cooking, where the team prepares 110 portions of a three-course meal. This meal consists of an appetizer with seafood or fish, a main course using butcher’s meat, poultry, or game, and a dessert showcasing contrasting textures and temperatures.

Tay described a culinary competition at this level as requiring significant mental and physical strength. He expressed gratitude, stating, “The team has sacrificed a lot of time and sleep. We have so many people 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.”

Interested?

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post about Lavish Catering’s launch of premium catering services