Fort Lee, Virginia—The only food experience Army Specialist James Jones had before joining the military was delivering pizzas near his North Florida home. But in early July, the 23-year-old Ranger was in training for fierce combat, rolling pastry dough into delicate edible chopsticks.    

Jones and 10 other soldiers are preparing to compete at the International Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany, from October 19 to 22. Held every four years for more than a century, the cooking competition pits national teams against one another—including 10 in the military division. They must prepare a three-course meal with myriad components for 150 people in just three and a half hours, plus seven three-course meals showing off their artistic talent for a cold display table.

While the speed and volume might seem appropriate to military participation, the quality does not. In the public mind, army food generally ranks just above jailhouse fare—slop and M.R.E.'s, the unappetizing meals used in combat situations. "There are a lot of stereotypes about military food," says Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Sparks, the Army culinary team's manager. "That's why it's important for us to show we are as good as our civilian counterparts." Dishes planned for this year include herb-crusted rabbit tenderloin, leek-stuffed duck breast, and strawberry rhubarb tart with lavender honey ice cream.
The competition not only helps the Army break its reputation for foul food, it gives the "warrior chefs"—many of whom have or will have experience in combat zones—a chance to build their résumés for post-military careers. To win, they must be efficient and resourceful, just as in combat zones. And team chefs get to demonstrate their talent to culinary experts from around the world.

The competition not only helps the Army break its reputation for foul food, it gives the "warrior chefs" a chance to build their résumés for post-military careers. International Culinary Olympics is a challenge the Army takes with its usual rigor, assembling its team in March after an internal contest. Because team members are active-duty wartime soldiers, the army starts with 20 chefs, with about half making it to Germany because some units get deployed. ("They are soldiers first and cooks second," Sparks points out.)

Team members gather from worldwide posts at the Army's Culinary School in Fort Lee, Virginia, one week a month throughout the year to train, brainstorming menu ideas and honing cooking and baking techniques for up to 12 hours a day. Just before the event, they spend a month training on an Army base in Germany. Roland Schaeffer, a former chef for Heinz U.S.A., who has done stints at venues such as the Lakeview Golf Resort & Spa in Morgantown, West Virginia, and the Bel-Air Country Club in Bel Air, California, helps coach the team.

"Some people don't think playing with food is respectable because we are a country at war," says 36-year-old Sergeant First Class Rene Marquis, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and team captain. He argues that the competition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for soldiers to prove their cooking chops on an international stage, and points out that American allies, including the British, French, and Swedish, all send military teams to the competition. "If we were to withdraw because of the war, it would be a win for someone else," he says while arranging garlic custards and speared asparagus on a tray for the cold display.