School Cook of the Year, Electrolux Nordic Challenge and Swedish Pizza Championships

The School Cook of the Year (Årets skolkock), the Electrolux Nordic Challenge (Nordisk kocklandskamp), Sharpest Chef (Vassaste kocken), Sweden’s best value wines and much more will be decided at GastroNord and Vinordic, which will bring together the hotel, restaurant, catering and fast food industries at Stockholm International Fairs week beginning 16 April.

SkolmatsGastro – every day, 1,195,700 school meals are served in schools across Sweden. Some 15,700 school cooks are responsible for all the planning and cooking. The purpose of the competition is to inspire the country’s school cooks to provide good food for school children, while raising the status of the profession.
The finalist team is made up of three school cooks, who are tasked with serving three dishes – a soup, a vegetarian dish and a main course containing fish, poultry or meat. The dishes have to be prepared in a set time and are judged by a jury according to taste, nutritional content and cost. The competition is organised by Lantmännen. The final will take place on 24 April 2012.

Company Cafeteria of the Year (Årets Företagsrestaurang) is a competition for private, chain and public company cafeterias. Six teams compete in the final, each consisting of two chefs who both represent the competing cafeteria. In two hours, the teams in the final must create a healthy, seasonal and appetizing lunch buffet: A soup, a main course, three vegetable dishes and bread. The competition is organised by the magazine Restaurangvärlden, this year in partnership with Valio and the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Association. The winners each receive a travel bursary of SEK 15,000. The final will take place on 26 April.

Electrolux Nordic Challenge (Nordisk kocklandskamp) – chefs from the Nordic country teams compete in a “friendly” hosted by Electrolux. The winner is announced straight after the competition on 26 April.

Swedish Pizza Championships 2012 (Pizza SM 2012) – organised for the fourth year in a row. The Swedish Pizza Championships are organised by Fast Food Magazine and the aim of the competition is to highlight good pizza bakers, their professional skill and quality awareness. The first prize includes a voucher worth SEK 10,000 to spend at food wholesaler Axfood Snabbgross. The final will take place on 25 April.

Student Chef of the Year (Årets Kockelev) is a competition for student chefs in their third year at upper secondary school. The task is to create a well-prepared restaurant dish using seasonal raw ingredients, with a focus on tastes. During the final, the students have two and a half hours to cook their dish and then present it before a jury made up of some of Sweden’s top chefs, including Operakällaren’s Stefano Catenacci as the chairman of the jury. Student Chef of the Year is organised in partnership with Segers, Kraft Foods, Guldfågeln, Santa Maria, Arla, Sundqvist and Grönt till krogen. The final will take place on 25 April.

Sharpest Chef (Vassaste kocken) – a competition to test craftsmanship skills and speed. Eight finalists will compete for the title on 27 April 2012. First prize is SEK 25,000. The organiser is Restauratören.

Hottest Chef Contest – for the fifth year in a row, TABASCO/Arvid Nordquist HAB is organising the Hottest Chef Contest for students in their final year at a hotel and catering school in Sweden. The task is to create a main course from locally produced raw ingredients, with the main ingredient being lamb, and using two kinds of TABASCO Brand Pepper Sauce. Six finalists will compete for the title on 24 April.

Vinordic Wine Challenge – selects Sweden’s best value wines. Vinordic Wine Challenge is the Nordic region’s only EU-certified competition and is organised by Vinordic in cooperation with the wine magazine Allt om Vin. The winners are chosen on 25 April.

GastroNord and Vinordic are the biggest trade fairs in northern Europe for the hotel, restaurant, catering and fast food trade. The fairs are organised every other year at Stockholm International Fairs.

For further information:
Daniel Fritzdorf, Project Manager, daniel.fritzdorf@stockholmsmassan.se, +46 (0)70 7894196
Lotta Signeul, Media Information Manager, lotta.signeul@stockholmsmassan.se, +46 (0)8 7494379, or ida.mlowe@stockholmsmassan.se, +46 (0)8 7494413.