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Gian Carlos Pérez, a CIBer and chef of the Culinary Team Chile, is a clear example that practice can indeed lead us to success. The chef and his team have excelled greatly in the most important culinary Olympics worldwide: IKA Culinary Olympics.
From the CIB · Culinary Institute of Barcelona, we have felt very proud of Gian Carlos' achievement and have talked to him to discover the development of this award and to know his trajectory once he left the CIB.
Perseverance is rewarded
Gian Carlos joins the Culinary Team Chile through Nicolás Garate, team captain, after taking an avant-garde cooking course in Santiago de Chile and did not hesitate to join him. However, he felt that he still had skills to polish before joining the team, so he traveled to Barcelona to take the PEC·M Molecular Cuisine.
When he returned, Nicolás wanted him to contribute his knowledge to the team and asked him to join. From that moment until today, they have not stopped working until achieving these results. The IKA Culinary Olympics is a culinary competition where trends, products, and innovative concepts for gastronomy and hospitality are evaluated.
As Gian Carlos recounts, his team faced the challenge in the Culinary Art category where the proposal consists of a menu composed of a cold appetizer, a hot one, a starter, a soup, a main salad, and a dessert. In this category, the food did not necessarily have to be eaten, but it had to remain visually and olfactorily perfect throughout the day.
Under these premises and with the sole objective of winning, the team had to demonstrate knowing how to use certain techniques with gelatin, glazes, temperatures, cuts, among other aspects. To obtain the maximum score, all the details had to be perfect.
During the three days, the team executed two proposals with the highest score and thus won the gold medals, and a third proposal where they obtained the silver medal. Chile's achievements impressed all the members of the competition, as it was the first time that the country participated in a competition of this caliber outside of South America.
The IKA Culinary Olympics is held once every four years, just like the sports Olympics. The next step for the team will be to prepare for a competition to be held in Luxembourg in 2026, where they will cook against more than 1000 competitors and 60 countries in various areas.
For Gian Carlos, attending this competition has been a dream and the result of much sacrifice. In addition to the previous preparation, during the event, they slept a total of two hours in three days. However, he comments that it was so rewarding that coming out of a tough day only encouraged him to keep working. He met great references in the gastronomy world like Reimund Pitz, with whom he had the opportunity to talk, share, and receive congratulations.
Gian Carlos comments that discipline has been key in his development. In his previous life, he would end his day, go out with his friends, and continue with his normal life. However, when he joined the team, he had to change his entire routine and his way of seeing cooking. It has been difficult for him to understand that this is the discipline that requires commitment to a competitive team.
From Chile to the world
Gian Carlos started his career as a chef in Chile, working in Asian cuisine. However, he felt he had to leave the country to continue developing his skills as a professional. He remembers one day stopping at his job and thinking if he was advancing or not. So, he made the decision to invest in his career and come to Barcelona.
Leaving the country, changing continents, learning from new cultures, raw materials, and different professionals were some of the many reasons that prompted Gian Carlos to take the step.
What he remembers best from his time at the CIB was acquiring the necessary skills to innovate and create. During the PEC·M Molecular Cuisine program, he remembers the field trips, having classes with many different people, and classmates from different places.
Comparing his dishes from 2021 with his dishes today, Gian Carlos believes that he has been able to discover his essence as a chef.
Looking to the future
Gian Carlos believes that the learning stage never ends, which is why he has chosen to join the culinary competition team. Upon returning from Barcelona, it was difficult for him to find his place in the world of gastronomy since he did not want to return to his previous job, but to immerse himself in innovative cuisine. For this reason, he decided to stay on the team, as he considers it a much more valuable learning process than a fixed job.
Currently, culinary competitions do not have as much recognition as sports competitions and are supported through sponsors, but they are not as lucrative or remunerated in the same way. Gian Carlos does not believe that this work will be revolutionized immediately, but he does believe that discipline and hard work will help progress.
"Discipline, wanting to change your way of living and growing. Above all, having a clear goal of what your dreams are and working to achieve them. Without stopping."
For the chef, one of the aspects he values the most is respect and empathy, regardless of the position he holds. If a colleague needs support, provide it. Changing the mentality that the boss is the one who says something and that it has to be that way, even if he is wrong.
Gian Carlos sees an imminent evolution in gastronomy. On the one hand, he believes that there is increasingly more emphasis on innovation in kitchens. He comments that sometimes things that are part of the country's culture and daily life are overlooked, but he advocates evolving and innovating in flavors or fusions. On the other hand, he embraces technology as a tool to facilitate processes. In the end, technology can never replace the skills that a person must carry out.
We asked Gian Carlos to give a piece of advice to future CIBers and he said that they should never stop learning and not confine themselves to just one sector. It's okay to specialize, but he encourages them to never stop exploring every part of the kitchen, and he comments that this aspect will be very noticeable in leadership.
