Mary Palecek, Senior Chef de Partie at Woodside in Warwickshire, has been crowned the winner of the 2016 European Copper Skillet Junior Competition, run by the International Association of Conference Centres (IACC).
As current UK Champion, Mary competed against chefs from Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, France and Germany in the European Final which was held in the Netherlands on Saturday 24th September.
The chefs were presented with basic pantry items along with a ‘mystery basket’ of proteins and other fresh, dairy and grocery items. They were given 30 minutes to prepare, create, and present their creations to the judges.
Mary was awarded 1st place in the Junior category for her dish of pork fillet medallions, sweet potato, sautéed courgette and chorizo, with a tomato and chilli salsa. She will now go on to compete with other chefs from IACC chapters around the world at the International Copper Skillet Competition in Los Angeles, April 2017.
The popular Copper Skillet competition was introduced in 2004 to highlight the artistry and skill of the best chefs from IACC-member conference venues around the world and to honour their contributions to the shared goal of providing an outstanding conference venue experience.
Thrilled with her success, Mary said:
“I’m incredibly proud to have won the European Copper Skillet Competition, especially considering the tough competition of so many other great chefs. It’s an honour to hold the European title for the UK and also represent Sundial Group – I’m already so excited for the International competition next April.”