Stormchef of the year
Stormchef of the year
‘Årets stormkock’, or storm cooker chef of the year, is an annual competition hosted by Tärnaby Mountain Hotel since 2003. It attracts professional chefs from all over Sweden to come and cook their their competition dish on a Trangia Stove.
The cooking takes place outside and the weather can vary between -30 degrees celcius or plus degrees and rain, which ads difficult and often unexpected challenges.
The competition is hosted by Tärnaby Mountain hotel, food wholesaler Menigo and Trangia. The ingredients are shown to the competitors right before the competition starts, game was the theme with the main ingredient reindeer meat. They are then given 30 minutes to plan their menu before the clock starts ticking. The chairman of the jury was Swedish chef of the year, Ludwig Tjörnemo. The standard of the food have improved every year, according to several members of the jury. The dishes presented today cannot be compared to the first few years.
“Much depends on how the competitors handle the cold and cooking in the cold”
This is a competition deserves på be aired on prime time TV, but part of the charm is that it isn’t. Several chefs are competing for the first time, including the winner Luqaz Ottoson who represents The Rot (root) Restaurant on the island of Gotland. Luqaz says he was prepared for -20 but rain and plus degrees proved to be more challenging than expected.
“It is difficult to keep the food warm in cold rain”
The jury judges primarily on flavours and looks, it needs to be tasty with clean flavours that highlights the main ingredient. It also needs to be something that can be cooked during an outing to the mountains, but with such fine ingredients the expectations are high, says head chef Viktor Larsson at Tärnaby Mountain Hotel. Sustainability is something that has gained importance these past few years also. How well the ingredients are being used and if food waste can be avoided is very important. Luqaz winning dish is a bit of a mouthful… Seared reindeer meat with stewed cauliflower, separated wild bouillon and Swedish Västerbotten cheese.
In 2022 the competition will be held in March or April. Please contact Tärnaby Fjällhotell for more information.
Big thanks to Tärnaby Fjällhotell for your passion and enthusiasm.
