REPORT LISBON
WACS Global Chefs Challenge 17th of April –22nd of April 2009

Friday, 17th of April 2009
Welcome party, gathering with competitive teams, members of judging committees and first questions, materials, purchase, who, when, where…  This also occurs, when we are inconsistent when reading instructions for competition or the instructions are not written clearly and the users interpret them differently. Since we weren’t the only ones, who were surprised about the purchase of the materials, it means, that the instructions were read only by the writers, who thought differently than us by writing them.

We came to an agreement and a common decision, that the elementary materials, dry food and some of the vegetables buys the organizer of the competition, everything else each team buys before the competition.
 
Saturday, 18th of April 2009
Meeting with the members of judging committees and competitors of nine countries. Questions and answers about the course of the competition, judging criteria and the system of giving points. Drawing of competitive days and the number of kitchen, beginning of the competition at 8 AM and then every 10 minutes the next team. Food according to the schedule – first 5 plates for judging committee and 1 plate for photographing and exhibit, then in the second round 6 plates for guests.

Luck has it, that we landed in third group with our neighbor Croatia and favorites Portuguese, who had a better starting position already as the hosts as well as knowing the competitive ground and preparation on the competition itself.

The judging committee was composed of members from: Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Scotland, Switzerland and an official WACS observer from Italy. The competition itself was observed by WACS Continental Director – Europe South Srečko Koklič and WACS president Gissur Gudmondson from Island.
Judge judged the work of the competitor – 30 point and taste – 70 points. The system of grading included each dish individually and then divided by four. That means a grade of each dish individually and then a joined grade for the complete menu. For work 4x (maximum) 30 points – 120, divided by four and for taste and appearance 4x (maximum) 70 points – 280, divided by four.

The first day all the team members attended tourist vagrancy across the city Lisbon and surroundings up to Sintra, where we saw the summer residence of the Portuguese kings of the last century. We had lunch in a beautiful villa Tivoli, a 5 stars hotel with a beautiful park.
But we can commend the service, high level of attendance and kindness of the serving staff.
After on returning to the hotel, we received first information about the course of the competition from our judging member Iztok Legat, who warned us of the things our competitors must be especially attentive of.

Second day;  after the received information about the available material, purchase of food.
A special experience, Portuguese salespeople bad or don’t speak English, searching between shelves of giant stores. With specially rich and variegated choice of vegetables and fruit you have a lot to choose from, but it happens that they don’t have or don’t know ordinary wheat grits. After the purchase, we went to the competition area and see the competition, the course of food outlet and I was even invited to join the guests and tasted the competitive menu of Montenegro.

Third day: competition and starting jitters, problems with the kitchen equipment, appliances don’t work as they should, one knob switched off and the oven doesn’t work… With the problems, minutes of delay are accumulating…  Unfortunately even a delicious appetizer and the best terminally cultivated fish in main course don’t help with the final high score, for minutes of delay nail points. A good appearance with a little bit of bad luck, new experiences and challenges for the future. I again set among the guests and I could taste the menu of our two competitors, that convinced me, that it was among the best by taste and by appearance.

The announcement in hotel Vila Italia, former palace of the Italian king in exile, today a 5 stars hotel with a view of Atlantic ocean. Reception at the terrace and an invitation to the restaurant, cultural program of Italian operettas and national Portuguese music have lifted the tension of the announcement and the expectation of the participants.  
The award of recognition to all participants, prizes of the sponsors and third place – Malta, second – Italy and first – Portugal.

Carlos Gonçalves, Chef
Carlos Gonçalves, 26, is executive sub-chef for some years in a Portuguese hotel. He is member of the Portuguese Olympic Team for five years, so their participation in national and international competitions is not new. He has been in IKA 2004 and 2008, in Erfurt, working hard with his team to have a good participation. Between those years, he has also been in other international competitions, as Scothot in Scotland or the Mediterranean Culinary Challenge in Cyprus. He has also been in Global Chefs Challenge 2007, in Slovenia. He says that his participation in that competition gave him a better knowledge of how it works. In Portugal, since he finished his education, Carlos Gonçalves worked in different restaurants and hotels, giving him the opportunity to learn and to progress in his career.

Celso Padeiro, Assistant
Celso Padeiro worked as assistant of Carlos Gonçalves, having an important role to the semi-final results. He is 20 years old and he was third winner of Young Chef of the Year competition in Portugal in 2008. That award gave him the opportunity to open his chances for participation in national events and national or international competitions. He is now working with Carlos Gonçalves in Hotel Real Villa Italia, which is a good help for their work as a team. Since he finished his education, Celso Padeiro is working on his career. Despite being in its beginning, his effort and hard work are visible.

The Chef Carlos Gonçalves and his assistant, Celso Padeiro, are the winners of semi-final of Southern Europe/Mediterranean in Global Chefs Challenge. They work together, at the same hotel, and they had started their preparation for the competition some months before the competition. Hard work, great effort and dedication: three items that characterized their work, in their words. Now they are working on for their participation in Global Chefs Challenge final in Chile.

Chef jacket of the winning Portuguese team was on auction sold. Intermagazine paid 600euros for the winners chef jacket for the italy fund, ACPP gave 500 euros for this fund and extra 300 euros  was from various people at the dinner who either gave money or bought other jackets.The profit was intended to seismic area in Italy.

Srečko Koklič
WACS
Continental Director – Europe South