Canada’s Murray Hall took home a coveted copper prize as the International Association of Conference Centres’ (IACC) global culinary champion at the IACC Americas Annual Conference, held March 19-21 at the Pacific Palms Resort in Industry, Calif.
The executive chef for the BMO Financial Group Institute for Learning in Toronto, Hall finally broke through in his fifth try as the Canadian champ, beating other top conference center chefs from the U.S., United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia, and Sweden.
“It feels fantastic. I’ve spent five years striving for this,” Hall told Meetings Focus, adding that he now intends to retire from the competition and that he’s quite happy to pass the torch on to the future champions of the Copper Skillet. The heated competition is now in its 11th year and was a highlight of the 2014 event for attendees, who cheered wildly and even waved miniature flags representing their country of choice.
Hall won not only the coveted title, but also took home $2,000 in the first year of cash prizes being awarded at the competition, with a dish consisting of mushroom risotto, seared hangar steak with asparagus and a balsamic-vinegar reduction, pan-seared bream with heirloom tomatoes, and Swiss chard with red pepper.
