The International Exhibition of Culinary Art (in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung'' or IKA) termed the Culinary Olympics, is a

quadrennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

chef competition, and the biggest culinary exhibition in the world.Dixon, Rachel, ''The Guardian'': Nibbles (October 23, 2008)
What are the Culinary Olympics?
/ref> Last held in 2016, the event has in recent years been arranged in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Though the

Bocuse d'Or The Bocuse d'Or (the ''Concours mondial de la cuisine'', World Cooking Contest) is a biennial world chef championship. Named for the chef Paul Bocuse, the event takes place during two days near the end of January in Lyon, France, at the SIRHA Inter ...

of France is frequently referred to as the culinary equivalent of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, Smillie, Dirk, ''Forbes.com'' (June 5, 2007)
French Toast
/ref>Fabricant, Florence, ''The New York Times'' (May 28, 2008)

/ref> it is

biannual An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saint ...

and not separated by an

olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...

, i.e. a period of four years.

History

Conceived by a group of German chefs in 1896 with an aim to promote German cuisine to the world while receiving impulses from other cooking cultures, the first competition was arranged in 1900 in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

with four nations participating. Initially organized by the ''Internationalen Verbandes der Köche'' (International Association of Chefs) in cooperation with other organizations, it became subject to

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's ban of all international societies during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung, Culinary Olympics
/ref> Every event took place in Frankfurt until 1996 when it was moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. Since 2000 it has been staged at Erfurt. The 2012 event involved 54 nations with 1,600 participating chefs, with Sweden coming in first place, Norway placing second and Germany in third. Sweden was also the winner in the Junior Team competition.

Competition disciplines

Involving large chef teams, the nations compete in a number of categories, most with subcategories: *National - Senior: Competition Category "Restaurant of Nations", Competition Category A "Culinary Art", Competition Category B "Culinary Art" and Competition Category "Pâtisserie" *National - Junior: Competition Category "Hot Kitchen and Culinary Studio", Competition Category A "Cold Platter", Competition Category B "Culinary Art" and Competition Category C "Pâtisserie" *Military: Competition Category R "Restaurant of Nations" and Competition Category B "Cooking" *Community Catering *Regional: Category A "Culinary Art" and Category B "Culinary Art" *Individual: Category A "Culinary Art", Category B "Culinary Art", Category C "Pâtisserie", Category D - "Culinary Artistry - Cold Kitchen, Showpiece" and Category D- "Culinary Artistry -Pâtisserie, Showpiece"

References

External links

Culinary Olympics official site
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IKA 2008 Culinary Olympics
WACS Cooking competitions