Belly Force Photo: MoD
Dem boys don’t do battles only in the front line as they last week demonstrated when they were engaged in a culinary ‘battle’ - Britain’s biggest military culinary competition – named Exercise Joint Caterer – which annually pits the best chefs from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force against each other, demonstrating their high levels of skill and expertise.
Vigilance gathered temperatures rose as teams from across the three Services battled it out in 15 menu areas to distinguish the champions, and prove military chefs can ‘handle the heat’ of the kitchen – whether on operations in Afghanistan, at sea or at home at a formal dinner.
Chefs were judged by a panel that included Cyrus Todiwala of BBC 2’s “The Incredible Spice Men” after a tense three days of competition demonstrating the high standards that enables military caterers to operate at maximum efficiency for the Armed Forces.
Warrant Officer David Ashmore of Defence Fuels & Food Services said: “The old phrase goes an army marches on its stomach and that remains true to this day as food is an essential element of ensuring our Armed Forces can deliver on operations. Not only does it fuel the essential work the Armed Forces do all over the world but the right quality and variety of food can play a huge part in maintaining good levels of morale and performance.”
The competition involved:
- a “ration pack challenge” where three course meals created from ration packs consisting of basic commodities found on any supermarket shelf;
- an “ethnic buffet challenge” in which Service personnel produced culturally sensitive food to cater for the diverse make up of the Armed Forces and locations they are deployed;
- as the baking revolution grips Great Britain the event wouldn’t be fitting without a cake competition. The chefs showed that cake baking is their bread and butter as a multitude of delicious delicacies were produced, including by those responsible for creating the Diamond Jubilee cake presented to HM The Queen for her anniversary in 2012.
After the “ration pack challenge”, Army competitor Sergeant ‘Scouse’ Campbell who serves with 7 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps said: “Having been in a Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan we used the same ingredients as we have done today. The food may be slightly more fancy than we would give the guys coming back in off of patrol, but it is great way to show what can be done in a short period of time with Service issued rations.”
Able Rate Chris Ardent from the Royal Navy, who served on submarine HMS Triumph completed his challenging fish dish, under the watchful eyes of the judges and audience at the event. He said: “The space to cook is about the same as a submarine but the temperature was a great deal higher. I managed to get the food on the plate in time and the judges seemed happy. It has been a great opportunity to challenge myself against some of the other Service chefs and wouldn’t have missed for the world.”