It’s on again – the Institute of Hospitality in Healthcare’s annual Culinary Competition returns for its fourth year, with the final cook-off scheduled to be held at Melbourne’s Pullman on the Park Hotel on the evening of Tuesday 28 October as part of our 42nd National Conference.

Once again our four finalist teams will pit their skills against their peers and against the clock, showcasing their creativity before a panel of expert judges, with chef and TV/radio presenter Alastair McLeod of Ready Steady Cook and Off the Eaten Track fame MCing the event.

Proudly sponsored by UNOX, Bega Foodservice and Moffat Australia, the competition is designed to publicly acknowledge the culinary skills of chefs and cooks in health and aged care – whose talents often go unrecognised.

Event organiser Liam O’Toole says the quality of entries received this year has continued to raise the bar for the competition, highlighting that the creativity and skillsets on display are as good as any in foodservice.

“When it came to choosing our four sets of finalists, it was very hard for the judging panel to make their decision – there was a lot of discussion going back and forth,” Liam says. “We received a terrific response, with the highest number of entries since we started the competition, and the quality of submissions was the best we’ve seen so far.”

It was Liam who brought the concept for the competition to the IHHC Board back in 2021 and he remains passionate about its aims.

“The competition shines a spotlight on those dedicated chefs and cooks in health and aged care who don’t normally get exposure for their skills. Participating as finalists gives them an opportunity to be part of the conference and mix with their peers – as well as raising their profile among the senior staff members who will be attending.

“Our competition highlights the fact that these essential workers are committed to producing the best meals possible, which are not only appealing and satisfying but also have to be nutritionally sound and cost-effective.

“Not only do these professionals go the extra mile to provide patients and residents with quality food, which plays an important role in maintaining their nutritional health and wellbeing, they also typically have to work within budget constraints which are much tougher than in regular foodservice.”

These elements play a role in the competition itself, with entries required to adhere to a food cost of no more than $7.90 per finished plate and nutritional guidelines specifying a maximum of 3000kJ per dish, with 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.

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.

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

Those chosen have 30 minutes’ preparation time prior to the cook-off for mis en place, then 45 minutes to prepare five portions of a recipe using the nominated market basket ingredients and other local produce. Each 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 dish will be 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 for taste and presentation. Judges will be walking around during the cook-off checking these factors and awarding points independently.

The winning team will receive the David Terrill Trophy, sponsored by Moffat Australia, to hold until next year’s event when it will be handed over to the 2026 winner. Both winners and runners-up also receive a further trophy which is theirs to keep permanently.

Last year’s winning team of Paolo Bravi and Antonio (Tony) Ferraioli from Catholic Homes Castledare Village in Perth, who served up Maryland Delight Stuffed Chicken, took a moment to realise they had won when the announcement was made at the climax of the competition, due to the order in which names were read out.

“It was my first time competing in this event, but for Paolo it was his second year,” Tony says. “It was a great challenge cooking against the other teams and having to prepare a dish that conforms to both fine dining standards and the nutritional and budget requirements of health and aged care – but it was a great atmosphere and a beautiful night.

“It’s also a great experience for us in that allows us to be part of the conference – you get to meet other people in your industry, you can exchange thoughts about how to handle situations and food pressures, especially with regard to texture modified meals which are an important part of expanding our menus. I was very impressed to see the texture modified food awards at the Gala Dinner and what had been achieved in that space.”

Paolo says, “The competition was great fun and I really enjoyed it – we both used to work at Crown Perth where it was held, and I think that may have given us some extra motivation which translated into a competitive edge! It was a good feeling to be part of the event – even though at first we didn’t understand we had won, we thought we had come in third.”

He adds, “I think participating in events like is a valuable experience for every chef. Sometimes people are scared to be part of it, but if you’re a chef and you have years of experience, it’s very fun to do something like this.

“The only advice I would give is you need to remember that you’re creating a dish for health and aged care, so it should not be too complicated – keep it simple but make it beautiful.”