Bermudian chef Chris Malpas definitely has the taste for international cuisine after winning a silver medal at the annual International Chef's Championship in New York City, recently.

And while chef Malpas put a lot of work into his recipe for success, talent is all natural for this 32-year-old chef who began his career in the food industry 18 years ago in Bermuda.

"I worked at Cambridge Beaches when I was 14 and I started in the kitchen doing everything that everyone else didn't want to do," he said.

Mr. Malpas also attended Bermuda College when cooking outweighed carpentry as an avenue for his life's work.

"The opportunities kept opening up on the food side. But it is all very similar when you're working with your hands and you're taking ideas and making it tangible.

"The college gave me one step ahead when I went off to culinary school, it was a great stepping stone," he said.

After receiving his associate's degree from the Culinary Institute of America Mr. Malpas, along with a couple of friends from culinary school, jetted off to Switzerland. He also spent a number of years on the Silver Seas' cruise ship, the Silver Cloud.

The 290-passenger ship toured places such as Denmark, Scotland and Venezuela and although most of the cuisine was American, there were still chances to experiment with cuisine from various regions.

"We had a bistro on the ship that specialised in the area we were docked in so we would go and get Russian soda bread when we were in Russia," he said.

Even while he was in Switzerland he was able to experiment with some Bermudian cuisine, although it was difficult to find some of the ingredients for certain dishes. But he did manage to throw together a fish chowder for the occasional menu.

Mr. Malpas' international standards were set after winning a silver medal at the International Chef Championship in New York City a couple of weeks ago.

The standards for the competition are set by the American Culinary Federation (ACF) and four certified master chefs judged the competition and the food on such things as utilisation of ingredients, culinary expertise, presentation and most importantly, taste.

"It's all based on a grading level and that goes up to 40 points. It's broken down into gold, silver and bronze but it is all based on grade so everyone could end up with a silver medal," he explained.

"Basically, it benchmarks where you stand on international standards through a body that has strict standards," he added.

Not only did he receive the medal certification, but there was also a $2,500 cash prize for his rack of lamb and petite rack of veal creation.

He submitted his resume, recipe and application and was one of the six selected to participate in the competition.

Mr. Malpas received a little twist before the competition as he had been preparing to work with pork for the championship but was told just a few weeks before that the meat provided would be veal and lamb.

He also said he had to search New York City for some of the ingredients that he wanted to add to his recipe that were not provided. The basic ingredients, such as oil and flour, were provided by Mr. Malpas, who also had to purchase artichokes and new potatoes on the day, which turned out to be a challenge.

During the hour time limit for the competition (with an extra five minutes to plate the food), Mr. Malpas said he whipped up his creation of the veal, which he flattened and rolled with a prosciutto ham, sage and crusted with sweet potato and onions. While the rack of lamb was stuffed with fresh artichoke, garlic and Parmesan cheese then presented on a two-tiered plate.

"I called it rack to rack because it was a composition between the two meats," he said.

The flavourful dish was situated on a Portobello ragut and asparagus and Mr. Malpas was able to try his creation out at the executive dining room of the Bank of Butterfield.

It was obviously a success for Mr. Malpas as he received 36 out of the 40 points for his rack-to-rack creation and now has a silver medal to add to his resume.

"In a small community you can become well known, but it's good to do these types of competitions because you're constantly seeing new things and getting feedback on your cooking."

After travelling the world, Mr. Malpas returned to Bermuda and taught at the Bermuda College and then returned to his culinary roots and began cooking at Cambridge Beaches again.

At the Bank of Butterfield, though, Mr. Malpas is now in charge of the cooking for executive clients and catering as well as client entertainment.

His newest venture is the purchase of the San Giorgio Restaurant in St. George's that he and partner, James Perry, are currently working to put their stamp on.

"I'm halfway there (to owning my own restaurant) with San Giorgio. We're being very conservative over the winter months as we're in the process of making some internal changes."

Mr. Malpas joins in the kitchen on the weekends and once during the week as he also works at the Bank of Butterfield.

With a four-year-old and a nine-month-old baby, his wife has been completely supportive: "Owning our own place is something she knew I wanted to do," he said.

Mr. Malpas has travelled many places and even though he has settled down in Bermuda he is still interested in going back overseas as the opportunities arise for his children.

For now, he is focusing on the menu he and his restaurant partner will bring to the table for the East End restaurant.

"I've been a lot of places and seen a lot of things, so I've taken many bits and pieces from everywhere. We both are somewhat traditionalists and we want to take that road."