Exercise Joint Caterer, the annual flagship event for Armed Forces and MOD civilian caterers has taken place at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham and drew to a close on Thursday 12th October. The one question which played on everyone’s mind as they entered the competition was which Service team would win overall.
The Army team scooped the title last year and have spent weeks preparing in advance, fine tuning their menus and ensuring that they properly demonstrated the versatility and expertise of the modern Army chef. Unfortunately their hard work, determination and professionalism didn’t quite pay off and the Army didn’t manage to keep their title this year. Instead the overall winners for Joint Caterer 2017 were the Royal Air Force with the Army coming a very close second.
Despite the disappointment some teams managed to secure Best in Class which included the Parade Des Chefs, where teams prepared and cooked a three course meal for up to 84 diners and the Defence Engagement Challenge where teams (two chefs and one non-food handler) in a field kitchen had to cook and serve a VIP buffet lunch for 40 people to a fixed cost per head. Individuals’ Best in Class also came from the Centrepiece Display with some outstanding fat carving skills demonstrated in the form of the 1st Armoured Division Rhino. Many more individuals were presented gold, silver and bronze awards which they were over the moon with and looked forward to improving on for next year.
Warrant Officer Class One Roger Hart, Command Food Services Warrant Officer said, “Despite us not managing to take home the title of overall winners, this year’s event has been absolutely outstanding. The level of skills shown by the competitors has surpassed all their training practice and delivery. I look forward to the competition next year and seeing if we can once again take that title.”
The event allowed chefs from across all three Services to compete in a wide range of culinary classes, with the main focus on operational catering. The aim of the competition is to challenge chefs at the highest level and to demonstrate the ways in which military caterers can support operations whilst honing their craft and skills. Professional judges, drawn from the civilian hospitality industry, ensure that competitors are judged by their peers from the wider catering world.
The chefs have been through a rigorous selection process to earn their place in the competition, for some it’s been an intense couple of weeks. Lance Corporal Donna Cox (27), from Rotherham in South Yorkshire is the Head of Section for Plates on the Army Buffet team. She said, “There are 15 of us and we’ve trained for three weeks, producing two starters and two main courses. As the plates are for display only, it’s quite a hard process because we can get penalised for the smallest imperfection. In a hot kitchen, you can hide any defects with sauces and garnishes but with the buffet display, every plate must be identical and look as good in the evening as it did on the morning you plated it. The display today is the best it’s ever looked, we are a junior team, it’s been a roller coaster but we are very proud, I think whatever the outcome we are all hoping to come back next year.”
2017 Exercise Joint Caterer has been fierce but great fun; Geoff Acott MBE, Chairman of Judges said, “Ex Joint Caterer is about showcasing and recognising the skills and attributes of military chefs whilst giving them the opportunity to learn and improve. There has been some stunning work here, which can rate against anyone in the world. Coming here fires their imagination, delivers what needs to be delivered operationally but also puts them on the road to saying that they are as good as the top level chefs from the civilian culinary world; the day-to-day job is just different. They may be feeding soldiers, but they are capable of the very best as well.”