International Exhibition of Culinary Art

The International Exhibition of Culinary Art (in German: Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung or IKA) termed the Culinary Olympics, is a quadrennial chef competition, and the biggest culinary exhibition in the world.^[1] Last held in 2008, the event has in recent years been arranged in Erfurt, Germany.

Though the Bocuse d'Or of France is frequently referred to as the culinary equivalent of the Olympic Games,^[2][3] it is biannual and not separated by an olympiad, i.e. a period of four years.

History

Conceived by a group of German chefs in 1896 with an aim to promote German cuisine to the world while receiving impulses from other cooking cultures, the first competition was arranged in 1900 in Frankfurt with four nations participating.^[1] Initially named the International Verband Koche Deutschland, it became subject to Hitler's ban of all international societies during World War II.^[4] Every event took place in Frankfurt until 1996 when it was moved to Berlin.^[4] Since 2000 it has been staged at Erfurt.

The 2008 event involved 54 nations with 1,600 participating chefs,^[1] with Norway coming in first place, Germany placing second and Switzerland in third.^[5] Commenting on the winning team, Canadian team manager Jane Ruddick claimed that Norway's win was due to the nation's financial support, stating, "Norway spends a tremendous amount of money developing the chefs to participate in these competitions. They take them out of their jobs to train them. Our chefs are doing it on their own time. It's not an equal playing field from that point of view."^[5]

Competition disciplines

Involving large chef teams, the nations compete in a number of categories, most with subcategories:

• National - Senior: Competition Category "Restaurant of Nations", Competition Category A "Culinary Art", Competition Category B "Culinary Art" and Competition Category "Pâtisserie"
• National - Junior: Competition Category "Hot Kitchen and Culinary Studio", Competition Category A "Cold Platter", Competition Category B "Culinary Art" and Competition Category C "Pâtisserie"
• Military: Competition Category R "Restaurant of Nations" and Competition Category B "Cooking"
• Community Catering
• Regional: Category A "Culinary Art" and Category B "Culinary Art"
• Individual: Category A "Culinary Art", Category B "Culinary Art", Category C "Pâtisserie", Category D - "Culinary Artistry - Cold Kitchen, Showpiece" and Category D- "Culinary Artistry -Pâtisserie, Showpiece"

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Dixon, Rachel, The Guardian: Nibbles (October 23, 2008). What are the Culinary Olympics?
2. ^ Smillie, Dirk, Forbes.com (June 5, 2007). French Toast
3. ^ Fabricant, Florence, The New York Times (May 28, 2008). Tilting at the Bocuse d’Or
4. ^ ^{a b} unichef.com Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung, Culinary Olympics
5. ^ ^{a b} Vancouver Sun (October 24, 2008). Canadian chefs make a tasty finish to the Culinary Olympics

External links

• Culinary Olympics official site (German) (English)
• IKA 2008 Culinary Olympics WACS