Brooke Silk is off to Indianapolis to represent Australia in the World Food Championship. Photo: Supplied.
Figtree private chef Brooke Silk took out the dessert section of the World Food Championship Qualifiers in Sydney on the weekend for the second year in a row, earning a “golden ticket” to the international finals in Indianapolis.
Brooke represented Australia last year in Dallas and was thrilled to get the chance to do it again in Indianapolis on 12 November.
As part of the next stage, she will compete against the world’s best and brightest chefs and cooks for the ultimate title of World Food Champion and a $US150,000 grand prize.
She said she decided to challenge herself and competed in two categories in Sydney this year – the vegetarian competition on Friday (27 September), where she placed second, and the dessert category on Sunday (29 September), which she won.
“It [winning] was obviously a little bit of a relief, because I was building myself up to try and go back-to-back and get the win two years in a row and get the opportunity to go back to America and give it another go,” she said.
“Last year, I had the incredible honour of winning the golden ticket for dessert and competing in Dallas, which was an unforgettable experience.”
She’s hoping to better last year’s performance where she received 93.5 out of 100 for her dessert in Dallas, which wasn’t enough to get her through to the next round.
To select the best for Indianapolis, chefs in this year’s qualifying competition in Sydney were handed a twist, with contestants not having access to ovens or blast chillers, only a stovetop.
Brooke said that challenge inspired her to make a chocolate soil, fresh ricotta for a ricotta donut, a raspberry jam, and a matcha panna cotta.
She said the judges commented on her workflow and the quality of what she produced during the competition, which helped her score the win.
But there is little rest for Brooke, with the next stage of the competition just around the corner.
“As soon as you finish, you pretty much have to apply to the World Food Championship in America,” she said.
She said her menu had to be uploaded by 10 October, with the competition to take place on 12 November.
“We’ve started looking already for people that we can get produce from over there, trying to figure out where to stay and obviously booking flights,” she said.
“It is such a quick turnaround, but that’s good, because it still keeps you in the zone and ready to go again.”
Brooke said there were a lot of adjustments needed when cooking in America, with everything from the consistency of the flour to the sugar and butter being different to that in Australia.
She said the competition was an amazing platform to push her culinary boundaries, connect with other talented chefs, and showcase her growth as a chef.
Brooke runs home chef service and catering business Dine In, which she started more than four years ago.
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