Singaporeans are not just champions in eating, but cooking too. Our national culinary team proved just that when they bagged the coveted title at the Culinary Olympics, held in Germany from 21 to 26 October.

The competition was divided into hot and cold cooking categories. The team, comprising team manager Louis Tay (Swissotel Merchant Court), team captain Teo Yeow Siang (Lavish Catering), chefs Triston Fang (Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora), Alan Wong (Lavish Catering), Roy Lim (Unilever FoodSolutions), and Alex Chong (Regent Hotel) showed their culinary prowess in the early stages.

They were asked to prepare an exhibition table which consisted of a long list of dishes—from hot and cold tapas, finger foods, vegetarian menus, and pastries.  They whipped up all-original creations: pan-seared pigeon breast served with siew mai (for a local twist), Alaskan king crab and octopus roulade, and green mangrove crab salad.

During the second round, they were tasked to create a three-course menu for 11o guests. They continued their winning streak with inventive dishes of roasted rabbit loin stuffed with foie gras and bacon, and deconstructed caramel apple tart.

“It has been a very intense period for us as a culinary competition of this level is both emotionally and physically intense,” says team manager Louis Tay of Swissotel Merchant Court. The team began training a year prior to the event, and sacrificed a lot of time and sleep. However, he mentioned that it was all worth it as they were able to bring home the country’s first gold medal at the Culinary Olympics.