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Compass Culinary Cup is an in-house cooking competition that takes place every year. Participants are given 30 minutes to plan and create an optional dish that impresses the judges and sends them further into the competition. In addition, participants do not know what ingredients they will have to work with before the start of the competition.
-It is important that today with 30 minutes cooking time you make it simple. Focus on taste, sustainability and safety. And have fun, Head Judge Kristine Hartviksen urged the participants before the start of the competition.
The participants followed the advice to a tee and seemed to enjoy the competition throughout. Team Finland by Mikko Hartikainen and Ranjit Gonsalves were calm and collected. Team Denmark by Michael Lefevre and Jacob Bonne worked their knives like samurais.
The level of expertise was generally high in both taste and presentation. Lucky are the ones who eat in a Compass Group staff restaurant every day – Head Judge Kristine Hartviksen after the end of the competition.
Team Sweden crowned Nordic Champions
After three intense rounds The Swedish team, represented by Daniel Olsson and Jesper Wollberg Olofsson, was crowned the Nordic champions. They will go on to represent the Nordic countries in the European Compass Culinary Cup in Brussels in October.
-It’s incredibly cool to win, and it is fun to see the dishes you can create in such a short time. Now we will sharpen our skills towards Brussels, the Swedes smiled after the victory.
Norway’s teams by Martin Knoph and Ravindra Shetty from Eurest Conference & Events went in to a strong second place and gave the Swedes tough competition until the very end.
-We are proud to have represented Norway in an international competition. We would like to thank Compass Group for giving chefs from different countries with the same passion the opportunity to meet and compete. We congratulate Team Sweden on the victory and wish them all the best in the European competition. We are sure that they will make Scandinavia proud, said the Norwegian boys after the final.
Great Teamwork
Henrik Strinning, CEO of Compass Group Sweden, were proud of the teamwork the Swedish team showed.
– They work in different cities in Sweden, but today it looked like they had worked together all their lives! We have been working continuously to increase the expertise of our chefs and it is fun to see such results. I am coming to Brussels, smiled a proud Strinning after the competition.
We look forward to cheering Jesper and Daniel on in Brussels tomorrow and hope they take the victory home!
Meet the winners – team Sweden:
Name: Jesper Wollberg olofsson
Favourite ingredient: Fish
Favourite utensil in the kitchen: Sharp knife
Best dining experience: When I was in Germany in a city called Erfurt, a guy was standing on Street selling kebab and it was amazing
Favourite dish to make: Anything from the Asian kitchen. I love making sushi
Name: Daniel Olsson
Favourite ingredient: Root vegetables
Favourite utensil in the kitchen: Knife
Best dining experience: At a White guide restaurant who served me fried perch with bouillabaisse
Favourite dish to make: Confit fish
Read more about our boys, the Norwegian team here. We are proud that they made it all the way to finals!