Florida’s Chef Brings A Taste Of Home To London
August 17, 2012 
Florida’s Chef Justin Timineri played the role of food ambassador during the recent 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. He was part of a contingent of chefs from the Gulf Coast states who came to the Games to celebrate the “Spirit of the Gulf” event, which was sponsored by BP.
“It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities,” says Timineri, who serves as executive chef/ culinary ambassador for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “It was a real honor to be at the Games and to be able to interact with the U.S. athletes and bring them a little taste of home as they prepared for their competitions.”
The two Spirit of the Gulf events hosted 600 to 1,000 athletes and their families, U.S. Olympic officials, and fans from the Gulf Coast for fun, food, and music from the region during the Games. Timineri was joined by chefs from Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The purpose of the parties was to highlight that the Gulf region is well on its way back after the oil spill of April 2010.
Timineri served Crispy Pan Seared Florida Gulf Swordfish and Florida Firecracker Corn Relish with a side of Spicy Blueberry BBQ Sauce. “The dish was really good, and it was my play on Red, White, and Blue,” he says. “The relish was my red, the swordfish was the white, and the blue came from the blueberries.”
While there was a focus on the seafood coming out of the Gulf, Timineri made of point of including Fresh From Florida produce in his dish. “Not only was there great fish out of the Gulf on my plate, but also Florida sweet corn and blueberries.”
Timineri teamed up with Olympic legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee to conduct a number of live and taped interviews that were fed back to U.S. media outlets during his 10-day stay in London. He notes that the technology to enable those interviews and other technologies have changed the face of the Olympics.
“People are calling London the Digital Olympics,” he says. “This was really the first Olympics where social media played such a big part of the events. You had athletes “Tweeting” throughout and really giving a new insight to the competition.”
Outside of his work serving the U.S. Team, Timineri did find time for fun. “I met so many of the athletes during our two events and got to hold several of the gold medals our team won,” he says. “I also attended one of the swimming events in which USA won gold, so I was able to sing our National Anthem as they were awarded medals. That was a very cool and moving experience.”