The aroma of smoky barbecue filled the air at Irwin Barracks Sergeants’ Mess last month, as cooks from 13th Brigade, Special Air Services Regiment (SASR), HMA Ships Stirling and Stuart went dish-to-dish in the third annual Western Australia Hospitality Challenge.
This year’s competition – with the theme, American barbecue – was won by SASR chefs, who impressed the judges with a feast of mouth-watering dishes.
Event organiser, Warrant Officer Class One (WO1) Robert Goodman, said the challenge was a chance for the ADF’s top cooks to show off their talents in an enjoyable, yet highly competitive setting.
“The WA Hospitality Challenge brings teams together from across Defence in a fun and challenging environment,” WO1 Goodman said.
“It’s a chance for the chefs to display their culinary skills while interacting with other members of the WA catering community.”
Hosted by the 13th Brigade, the event was presided over by renowned Head Chef of Ventia, Christian Meinhardt, and judged by representatives from Navy, Army and Air Force.
Judges included special guests Commander 2nd (Australian) Division Major General David Thomae and Regimental Sergeant Major WO1 Trudy Casey.
“The standard of the food presented was extremely good,” WO1 Casey said.
“We were all impressed by the pork ribs dish, but the surprise dish for me was the mac-and-cheese from the 13th Brigade team.
“I’m not ordinarily a mac-and-cheese person, but this was outstanding.”
Dishes were ranked according to taste, texture, presentation and adherence to theme.
Highlights of the competition included slow-cooked brisket, Nashville-style chicken, Coca-Cola barbecue pork ribs, and grilled prawns. Classic side dishes such as cornbread, baked beans, collard greens and jalapeno poppers had the judges and spectators rushing back for seconds.
Sergeant Shaun Brennan, of the 13th Brigade team, said the challenge brought out the best in everyone.
“It was great to work alongside our Navy brethren, battling head to head in order to answer the age-old question of which service has the best chefs,” Sergeant Brennan said.
“We had roughly eight hours to produce an American-style tasting board. Although that seems like a lot of time, each team had to cook enough food to feed 40 people.”
Despite his team coming second, Able Seaman Samuel Palmer, of HMAS Stuart, was named best on ground and said it was a unique and memorable challenge.
“We had a heap of fun competing against our sister service,” Able Seaman Palmer said.
“Having never cooked in a field kitchen before, it was an interesting scenario for us, but I believe we put our best foot forward and produced some truly incredible food.”
WO1 Goodman has confirmed the competition will return for a fourth instalment in 2025.
