February 22, 2020 - Croatian chefs again showed great quality and successfully promoted Croatia at the Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart. 

Great news arrives from the recently held Culinary Olympics, where the Croatian culinary team was presented for the fourth time, reports HRTurizam.

The Culinary Olympics is the largest and most prestigious culinary competition in the world, where over thirty Croatian chefs and confectioners in different competitive categories competed this year.

Croatian representatives once again shone among the crowd of competitors, which included more than 2,500 from over seventy countries around the world. Croatia proudly returns home with two team and six individual bronze medals, and four individual silver medals, and their work was followed by over 100,000 visitors who, in addition to culinary competitions, had the opportunity to visit the related gastro fair, which took place in parallel in 10 pavilions.

Croatia participated in two of the most prestigious categories of the competition: "Restaurant of the Nations,” where they won a bronze medal by preparing a 3-course menu in 6 hours for 110 people and "Chefs table" where they prepared 7-course meals for 12 people in 5 hours.

Ivan Djukic won the silver medal in the individual category "Culinary Arts - Classical Thai style carving", while Dražen Šafar won the diploma in the same category. Ivan Djukic also won the bronze medal in the category "Culinary Arts - Carving Live".

The current state champion in confectionery, Sandra Jadek, was brilliant in the individual confectionery category and brought home a silver medal. The Varazdin County Regional Team presented their knowledge and skills in a cold table set consisting of finger food, cold plates, three entrees, a 5-course festive menu, four different desserts, and petit fours and won a bronze medal.

Dinko Tomašić, the young hope of Croatian cuisine, won the silver medal in the individual culinary category. In the same category, Lovro Stancin, the youngest Croatian representative, Antonio Bukvić and Tomislav Sabolić, won the bronze. Antonio and Tomislav were also awarded the bronze in the culinary artist category, where Erich Glavica won the silver. The Chef.hr team was presented in the catering category and received a diploma for its performance.

Over the past year, Croatian contestants have worked tirelessly to present Croatian gastronomy on this large culinary stage.

They made a special effort to emphasize indigenous Croatian foods and successfully promoted Croatia as a gastronomic destination in the country's main tourist market and sent the best invitation to potential tourists.

“The Culinary Olympics, just like the one in sports, is held every four years and requires great renunciation, long and arduous preparation, and each member has given its best to present themselves and Croatia in the best possible light. It was not easy, but it was worth it, because Croatian chefs and pastry chefs brought home new knowledge and skills and a wealth of unforgettable memories in addition to winning medals. They have connected with the best chefs in the world and are motivated to continue working in the profession. They will also apply the newly acquired knowledge in their facilities and pass on to colleagues through various workshops of the Croatian Culinary Academy, thus raising the quality of the catering offer and facilities in Croatia,” the Croatian Chefs Association said.

Norway was named the best and is the new Olympic winner in the National Teams category, while Sweden had the best junior team.

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