Chefs from the Armed Forces of Malta won Silver and Bronze awards during the Malta Kulinarja 2011 edition of the bi-annual cooking and culinary arts championship, this year held at the Millennium Stand in Ta’ Qali.

Throughout the week-long event organised by the Malta Chefs Society, all the chefs taking part in the competition came up with the most creative dishes to establish Malta’s culinary champion. Among them were a number of military chefs based around the Mediterranean, who battled to tantalise the competitions’ judges and visitors’ taste buds. The AFM was invited to participate in the Malta Kulinarja 2011 event by the US Navy’s 6th Fleet.

Commenting on the awards received, Commanding Officer 4 Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Mario Spiteri said that “undoubtedly, the AFM chefs’ performance was salted with stress and peppered with passion,  that is the path of the professional chef. The competition surely allows these soldiers to learn and evolve. And that, over time, defines the true difference between a ‘chef’ and a ‘cook’!”

The culinary competition brought together some of the best chefs on Malta in one kitchen court, specially built for the event. Three Maltese military chefs from 4 Regiment’s Catering Company were selected to participate: Lance Bombardier Antonello Vidal and Lance Bombardier Tristan Gauci  competed as chefs, accompanied by Lance Bombardier Alfio Micallef as commis chef. These AFM chefs had the chance of meeting  international judges, both from the military and from the International Chef Society.    

The Regiment’s Catering Company commander, Lieutenant Sharon Bellizzi, added that “some might wrongly think that there are no chefs in the military. The majority of military food service members are chefs, or they are on the path to becoming one. Our men are adaptable, resourceful, knowledgeable in mass quantity food production, clean and sanitary in the worst environments during military operations (on land or at sea).”

The AFM participants showed their individual capabilities in cooking a main course for four people within 80 minutes, and competing head to head with US Navy chefs. The Maltese team prepared chicken and tuna-based dishes. Lance Bombardiers Gauci and Vidal won Silver and Bronze awards respectively, and together they later went on with a German and American contingent of chefs to prepare dinner for a guest night held at the Chef Restaurant in Xemxija, in aid of the Inspire charitable organisation.