October 25, 2004 - 5:00pm
Glitches with travelling documents, forgotten cooking utensils and an airport security problem with a kitchen tool that looked suspiciously like a gun failed to foil Team B.C.’s performance at the 2004 World Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany last week.
The team – a select group of top B.C. chefs - including Iain Rennie, former student in Malaspina University-College’s Culinary Arts program - won a gold medal and placed fourth in the world in the Regional Team Category.
"It was tough competition but we are pretty excited about the outcome," said Rennie.
Team B.C.’s winning Olympic culinary dishes included a full display of cold foods including canapés, appetizers, buffet platters, vegetarian items, main courses, desserts and pastries.
"I’m very, very proud of Iain and the rest of Team B.C.," said Alex Rennie, head of the Malaspina University-College Culinary Arts program and Iain’s father.
"Winning a gold medal at the Culinary Olympics is what every chef dreams about. It’s the peak of the pyramid. Every team in every country wants to compete in the World Culinary Olympics. Just being one of the five chefs selected for Team B.C. by the Canadian Culinary Federation is an honour in itself. To win gold is just incredible."
Rennie said winning gold at the prestigious competition is a crowning achievement, especially after Team B.C. dealt with a series of setbacks before their arrival in Germany.
The first crisis occurred when Ken Harper, Chef Instructor at Malaspina University-College, was selected to join Team B.C., but broken his collar bone weeks before the event and was unable to participate. Team B.C. found a replacement at the last moment who managed to pull together some winning dessert items.
A security incident at Vancouver airport rattled the nerves of Team B.C. when one of their suitcases was removed from the aircraft. "One of the chefs had a small blow torch in his suitcase that looks like a gun," explained Alex Rennie. "The tool is used for caramelizing sugar. It caused a real stir at the airport."
The worst setback occurred when containers of food Team B.C. chefs prepared ahead of time for the competition arrived in Germany two days late.
"Teams at the Culinary Olympics always prepare about 80 percent of the Culinary dishes ahead of time, and finish them at the competition," explained Iain. "Our food containers were held up in Vancouver, so by the time they reached Germany, most of the food was spoiled. Our team had to basically start from scratch. We were up for four days before the competition with no sleep."
Working under Manager, David Ryan of Vancouver Community College’s Culinary Arts Department, the team includes Damon Campbell ( Diva at the Met), Andrew Springett (Wickaninnish Inn), Iain Rennie (The Fairmont Waterfront), Hamid Salimian (The Metropolitan Hotel) and pastry chef Arthur Chan (The Pan Pacific Hotel). They were all selected by the Canadian Culinary Federation to compete with teams from around the world and demonstrate the best in B.C. produce and fine dining.
Malaspina University-College Foundation hosted "Go for Gold!" in September - a Vancouver Island fundraising reception to help send Team B.C. to Germany.
"Congratulations are in order to Team B.C. for an outstanding effort," said Malaspina University-College Chef instructor Debbie Shore, who helped organize the fundraiser.
"We would like to thank everyone in the community who helped support Team B.C. The fundraiser was an excellent opportunity for Malaspina students to work along side world class chefs and see the potential to achieve incredible success in industry."
Tags: In the Community
