Team UKCC;

Capellen-based businesses came to the aid of a team of cash-strapped chefs during the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg.

Campaign group UK Curry Connect (UKCC) partnered with Central Bedfordshire College to join more than 100 teams across the globe at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg. However, unlike most competitors, the chefs could not afford to hire a kitchen and at first had to prepare their dishes in their hotel room and without refrigeration for their ingredients. Whilst some teams spend hundreds of thousands of pounds to compete at the event held every four years, the UKCC sent fifteen chefs and a support team on a mere £22,000 for the five day stay.

Local businesses then came to the rescue in the middle of the competition - and the team, whose members worked on a voluntary basis, took home one gold, three silver and three bronze medals. For their part, Capellen-based Motel Drive-In and Le Pain & La Toque bakery let the team use their kitchen.

Team manager Moslek Uddin thanked the locals, including Antoine Seyler who "helped guide [them] around the area", for their hospitality: “It is thanks to such people, along with the dedication of our team, that Team UKCC’s achievements were made possible.”

Indeed, Patrick Marchot at Le Pain & La Toque also offered to drive them across the border to France to source certain ingredients. The chefs even went on to learn some of the artisan pastry that the bakery makes in the early hours of the morning.

The team won medals in various culinary and pastry artistic categories. Their ‘Plastic or Planet’ dish, which highlights the current threat to environment and wildlife, took gold.

UKCC, which set up to raise awareness of staff and skill shortage in the Asian catering industry, wants to develop more home grown talent. They partnered with Central Bedfordshire College to train students who want to learn about international cuisine and as such encourage young people to take up cooking and take part in future competitions, with sponsorship.