The annual international culinary competition of the International Institute of Hotel Management, the Young Chef Olympiad, in association with The Telegraph, concluded on February 4 with a gala closing ceremony at Nicco Park’s Wet O Wild. Distinguished names from the global culinary sector were present at the event to make the evening memorable for budding chefs. After a week-long battle of their culinary skills, the chef contestants, from around 60 countries across the world, had a fun evening together, which added to the memories of their stay in India during the competition. Other than the gold, silver, bronze and plate trophy categories, contestants were awarded in 12 other categories, encouraging them to move ahead with their dreams in the culinary world. t2 captured the moods and moments from the spectacular and emotional evening.
Chairman of IIHM and founder of YCO, Suborno Bose; along with YCO chief mentor, chef Sanjeev Kapoor; Nakul Anand, chair of the YCO global advisory council; and members of the jury and judges’ panel joined Leyla and her mentor Kelvin Chong on stage to be a part of their special moment. “It has been a great responsibility to be the second participant from the country. This is an unbelievable moment for me. All the hard work paid off and it is a big moment for our country,” said Leyla. Her mentor, Kelvin Chong, said: “It feels fabulous and unbelievable. We have been participating for two years in this competition. It is a well-deserved win."
The t2 camera captured Leyla praying with folded hands right before the winner announcement
THE PLATE TROPHY WINNER:
Indian contestant Lenin Bopanna Ponnachana Naveen took home the Plate Trophy.
HALL OF FAME: Professor David Foskett OBE was awarded the Hall of Fame award for being at the helm of the jury since the very beginning of the competition, in 2014.
The 10th edition of the Young Chef Olympiad received a national commemoration through the release of an India Post postal stamp featuring the YCO logo. The stamp was unveiled at the competition.
Suborno Bose, chairman of IIHM and founder of YCO, addressed the audience and the participants. “Azerbaijan has won again. They had won last year, too. Their culture has become to win. In a way, YCO is influencing the cultures of the countries. The culinary culture is growing. I am happy that our neighbouring country Nepal has won silver. It shows that YCO is not just a competition. It is about diversity and it is about creating the culinary culture in smaller nations and encouraging the young chefs of the smaller nations to come up. India won the plate trophy and it is a very big thing for India. But next time, India will come in the top three,” said Suborno Bose to t2.
IIHM Calcutta director Sanjukta Bose at the event
SILVER WINNER: The silver in the competition had joint winners this year. Clifford Jeff Cadunggo Unabia of the Philippines and Kamal Thapa of Nepal. They jointly received a cash prize of $3,000. Thapa posed for a picture with his mentor and the YCO mascot.
BRONZE WINNER: Francesco Orsi representing Italy won bronze in the competition.
Nakul Anand, chair of the YCO global advisory council, was presented with the chef coat for the International Young Chef Olympiad that was unveiled with UNWTO secretarygeneral, Zurab Pololikashvili at the 25th General Assembly in Uzbekistan, by David Foskett and Suborno Bose.
Kamal Thapa representing Nepal won The Shakuntala Devi Gupta award for Best Vegetarian Dish.
Kenya contestant Adisa Maryanne and Switzerland contestant Alina Rozhda were joint winners of the Dr Suborno Bose Challenge.
Best Knife Skills award winners were Thailand’s Nakarin Jaroonpunvanich, Portugal’s Diogo Gabriel Mendes, Indonesia’s Btari Ratnaning Wardhani, Bulgaria’s Stelian Ganchev, Armenia’s Liana Melkonyan and Azerbaijan’s Leyla Valiyeva.
Best Hygiene and Kitchen Practice awardees were Armenia’s Liana Melkonyan, Azerbaijan’s Leyla Valiyeva, Bulgaria’s Stelian Ganchev, England’s Chole Stenning, Namibia’s Benita Ishekwa and Portugal’s Diogo Gabriel Mendes.
Bangladesh’s Swarup Kumar Biswas took home the Spirit of Young Chef Olympiad International Award. Chef Enzo Oliveri handed over the award to him
MOODS AND MOMENTS FROM THE EVENING:
YCO regulars chefs Sanjeev Kapoor and Ranveer Brar were among the distinguished guests who graced the evening at Nicco Park’s Wet O Wild.
Shayne Hyrapiet’s English, Bollywood and Punjabi numbers got the contestants grooving on stage. From We Are the World to Ghungroo, he had it all on his list.
Shayne made sure that the judges, guests, members of the jury and even the chairman of IIHM, Suborno Bose, joined him on stage to shake a leg.