Variety of the French IKA Programm.
We spoke to some of the participating chefs about their experiences at the IKA/Culinary Olympics 2024. This time with Guillaume Marquet, Captain of the Community Catering Team Service du Commissariat des Armées France. Following a long absence, France returned to the world culinary stage with a gold medal.
Photos Nicolas Villion
Guillaume, France took part in an IKA for the first time in a long time. What did participating in 2024 mean for your team?
Our participation meant a lot, because we wanted to be back in the game as France represents the country of gastronomy.
France took the gold medal and a very good fourth place in the Community Teams category in the overall ranking. What was your goal going into the IKA?
Our goal was to be on the podium and rise our flag with a gold medal.
How did you prepare for the competition in Stuttgart?
We’ve prepared for the competition during six weeks of training and brainstorming spread throughout six months.
How would you describe your culinary strategy for the 26th IKA/Culinary Olympics?
The French culinary team has participated at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg in 2022 and we realized that we were not prepared to such high-end competition in our category Community Catering Teams. That competition has shown us that we could go further in the culinary experience and create gastronomic recipes for the IKA/Culinary Olympics.
This year, for the first time, a vegetable was the main component in the Community Catering competition. What was particularly challenging about it?
The challenge for the vegetable was to find the right balance between the seasonality of the vegetables and the recipes that we wanted to have as far as texture, taste and shape were concerned.
Thank you!
