One of the highlights of the annual IHHC National Conference over the past few years has been the IHHC Culinary Competition, now returning for its third iteration with the finalists’ cook-off scheduled for Monday November 4 at Crown Perth on the Conference’s opening night.

TV personality Alistair McLeod from Ready Steady Cook and Off the Eaten Track will once again be Master of Ceremonies for the event, which will see the finalists pitting their talents to the test as they showcase their skills against their peers in the high-pressure competition. You can see some of the highlights of last year’s event in the photos accompanying this story.

The competition is open to anyone regularly employed within health and aged care, with teams consisting of any two of the following: chef/cook, director/manager, accredited practising dietitian (APD) and senior leader and/or staff of foodservice team.

Each team is required to choose from a list of key ingredients drawn from two market baskets: the first giving a protein choice of chicken, barramundi or lamb, and the second a choice of oranges, tomatoes, mushrooms, spelt, radish and a selection of Australian native bushfoods.

Entries must adhere to a food cost of no more than $6.50 per finished plate, with nutritional guidelines specifying a maximum of 3000kJ per dish, less than 23g fat (maximum of 30 per cent of total kJ) and less than 750mg sodium. A nutritional analysis signed off by an accredited practising dietitian must be included with the entry.

Finalists are selected based on the originality and innovation of their entries, their applicability to the healthcare foodservice environment, and their use of colour, texture and overall plate presentation.

At the cook-off, finalists get 30 minutes’ preparation time to undertake their mise en place, then 45 minutes to prepare five portions of their recipe using the nominated market basket ingredients and other local produce. Each finalist team will be started off at 10 minute intervals, so as to give the judges time to look at all the dishes and ensure each is judged as soon as it's plated.

Finalist teams are scored according to a 100 point system, with up to 15 points awarded for organisation, 40 points for culinary skills and 45 points for taste and presentation. Judges will be checking these factors and awarding points independently.

Last year’s winning team was Peter Hofmeister and Rahul Raj of The Prince Charles Hospital Brisbane. Rahul says, “Competing in the IIHC Culinary Competition offers a valuable opportunity to showcase our culinary skills on a prestigious platform, allowing us to benchmark our talents against those of our peers.

“This event not only highlights our proficiency but also emphasizes the essential role that high quality food plays in healthcare. By participating, we can elevate the profile of food within the healthcare sector, showcasing its critical impact on patient care and recovery.

 “Additionally, the exposure gained from this event brings significant benefits to our hospital. It enhances our visibility and reputation, attracting positive attention and inspiring our culinary team. The resulting publicity helps reinforce our commitment to excellence, contributing to the hospital's overall success and promoting our monthly specials to a broader audience.”

This year’s event organiser is Liam O’Toole, who brought the concept to the IHHC Board back in 2021 after having seen a similar competition in action at the Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF) in the US.

Liam explains,  “The aim of the competition is to shine a spotlight on people who don’t normally get exposure for their cooking skills, as well as encourage them to come along and by participating in the competition, also have the opportunity to be a part of the conference and mix with their peers.

“But the main goal is to give these workers some recognition for all the hard work they put in to provide patients and residents with quality food. We want to acknowledge these unsung heroes of the industry and hopefully give them more exposure to senior staff members – typically it’s the senior managers who come along to these conferences, whereas those in the kitchen rarely get that opportunity.”

The winning team will receive the perpetual competition trophy, named in honour of IHHC founder David Terrill, who was on hand at last year’s event to present it to our 2023 winners.

In a break from tradition, this year’s competition cook-off will be held on the first evening of the IHHC Conference, as a centrepiece of the opening night cocktail party. “The event usually takes around 90 minutes and attracts a big audience,” Liam says, “so it makes sense to schedule it on opening night when everyone is already assembled for evening drinks.”

He adds: “The standard of entries for the inaugural competition back in 2022 was very encouraging and last year’s raised the bar still further, and we are hoping to continue that trend in 2024. As we speak entries are still open, so it’s too soon to say who our finalists are, but if we go by previous years we can expect it will again be a tight race.

 “We’re proud to be showcasing the talent of those workers who turn up day in, day out to sweat and work their butts off providing quality food while adhering to all the nutritional requirements,” Liam emphasises. “This competition is a way of providing those unsung heroes with recognition, not just for the standard of their food but for the time and effort they put into it. If we can help them get some acknowledgment from their peers and the industry as a whole, hopefully that will encourage them to stick with it and grow their careers over the longer term.”

The winners and runners-up will be profiled in our December issue as part of our annual Conference wrap-up.