The great gulfood cook-off

Leading chefs explain why winning at the Emirates International Salon Culinaire is a major accomplishment for culinary professionals and how it can send a career into orbit.

Emirates International Salon Culinaire, the renowned cooking competition, has long been a highlight of the Gulfood show.

Beginning two decades ago with just 70 chefs from Dubai, the competition has since developed into an international event — with more than 1000 chefs from different countries around the world signed up to take part in 22 categories this year.

Organised by the Emirates Culinary Guild, the F&B competition will run for the duration of Gulfood (from February 27 – March 2) and is open to all professional chefs, pastry chefs, cooks and bakers.

The competition is particularly important for young chefs who have the opportunity to showcase and develop their skills, says Emirates Culinary Guild president Uwe Micheel.

“I would say it is the biggest motivation to win a medal, it is always great to be a winner in something, whatever you do,” explains Micheel.

“For us the most important thing is to let the guys learn — they are learning from each other, they are learning in the time they train for the competition and they are learning because they are studying.

During the competition, they learn from their mistakes because the judges are explaining their decisions and each competitor has got the chance to get individual feedback, so they are also learning from what they have done wrong.”

There are also some more well-seasoned chefs in the competition, including Golden Tulip Al Barsha executive chef M V Nathan, who is eager to prove his credentials at this year’s Salon Culinaire.

“The competition touch is totally different from the practical kitchen atmosphere, so definitely the chefs have to go out of the box and think beyond their limits to create something unusual to compete and win the medals,” he enthuses.

And the thrill of winning a medal doesn’t end at the show, says Al Bustan Rotana executive chef Christophe Prud’homme, who has staff participating in a number of categories including Four Plates of Dessert; Friandises Petites Four Pralines Nougatines; Five Course Gourmet Dinner Menu and Practical Cookery — Fish and Seafood.

“Getting recognised with a medal in competitions is always a big deal for chefs, no matter how long you’ve been in the industry,” he says.

“I have seen it in my chefs here at Al Bustan Rotana. After winning in Salon Culinaire, the motivation just shoots up and the passion becomes stronger. The personal satisfaction of bringing home an award always translates to striving better at what the chef does in the kitchen, which ultimately is for the benefit of our guests,” he adds.

Industry progression
Bettering the industry as a whole, as well as showcasing talent, is clearly an admirable aspect of the competition, which is why, explains Micheel, the competition judges are also expected to be of a high standard.

“The judges have to be approved judges for The World Association of Chefs and we have a lot of judges coming [to Salon Culinaire] for many years and we bring the guys back who were very good in terms of feedback to the competitors.

There are always some people who don’t take it too seriously, but we obviously bring the guys back who take it very seriously, and who give very good feedback,” he explains.

The feedback for chefs, and of course the possibility of winning an award, has meant that the number of chefs taking part in the competition continues to rise — so much so that some categories, such as the coveted live-cooking classes, are filled several months before the competition begins.

“There is a limit [of chefs] per hotel and then who comes first gets in first,” says Micheel.

“It is not because you are in a seven-star hotel that we kick a two-star hotel out — we are all the same. When we have the chefs in the Emirates Culinary Guild it is not about where we work, it is that we are chefs, we are colleagues.

“We also have chefs from independent restaurants [participating], we even have, for example, one category which is whole lamb, and they have to cut it down in different categories (such as the most value that you can get out of the whole lamb, and the best pieces for cooking) and we have butchers from shopping malls also — we have a butcher from Carrefour there, we have a butcher from Spinney’s, so it is not only restaurants who participate,” he adds.

Although there are participants from independent outlets participating in the show, Micheel admits that it is often chefs from big-name hotels that walk away with the prizes but, he asserts, this is often down to training and experience.

“In the last few years it is always the same five or six hotels that are doing extremely well in the competition,” he reveals.

“It also depends a lot on how much a chef is supporting the guys — you have some hotels where junior chefs would like to take part, but they don’t get the support from the hotel, from the executive chef, and you have other hotels which are supporting it a lot, so obviously they are doing well because they are training more for it and they are doing much better,” he adds.

The big prize for the show is the trophy for best gastronomy cook — which involves participants taking part in two live cooking classes along with preparing a five-course set menu. This is certainly no mean feat, but of course pushing the bar in Salon Culinaire is what has kept the quality of competitors exceptionally high.

“It is not like it was 15, 20 years back when we gave medals to moderate people,” explains Micheel.

“A person who would have won a gold medal in Dubai 10 years ago would get nothing now for the same work. Now we are at the highest level. Anyone who wins a gold medal here can win it anywhere in the world,” he adds.

The Categories

Chefs at the year’s Salon Culinaire will be competing for awards in the following categories:
1. Cake Decoration — Practical
2. Wedding Cake Three-Tier
3. Plates of Dessert
4. Pastry Showpiece
5. Bread Loaves and Showpiece
6. Friandises Petites Four Pralines Nougatines
7. Chocolate Carving Showpiece
8. Fruit & Vegetable Carving Showpiece
9. Open Showpiece
10. Five-Course Gourmet Dinner Menu
11. Four-Course Vegetarian Menu
12. Tapas, Finger Food and Canapés
13. New Arabian Cuisine
14. An Arabian Feast
15. Individual Ice Carving
16. Ice Carving Team Event
17. Practical Fruit & Vegetable Carving
18. Dressed Lamb — Practical Butchery
19. Arabic Mezzeh — Practical Cookery
20. Fish & Seafood — Practical Cookery
21. Beef — Practical Cookery
22. Poultry — Practical Cookery

There are also trophies up for grabs including: Best Arabic National, Best Pastry Chef, Best Artist and Best Gastronomy Cook.

What the chefs said
Christophe Prud’homme, executive chef, Al Bustan Rotana, Dubai
It is a good venue to meet new people, or new chefs who share the same passion. It also allows you to see and assess yourself in terms of the best practices used by other culinary professionals, hence it is a fantastic learning venture for you to improve your skills.

Rovart P Cagayat, senior artist, Radisson Blu DDC
More and more chefs from around the globe should be encouraged to participate.

Flemming Schulthess, executive chef, Dusit Thani
The F&B industry in the region has seen great growth and can be expected to do so even more now, so it is important that chefs possess cutting-edge skills that will help improve, not only themselves, but also the industry and standards for our guests.

Sisira Kumara, demi chef, Main Cold Kitchen, Qamardeen Hotel
This competition attracts many people from the hotel industry who recognise talent and this helps to develop skills and experience. Being recognised in this demanding industry will help chefs to achieve their goals and climb the ladder.

Elmer Mancera, senior chef de partie, Radisson Blu DDC
It’s a great opportunity to put our work into the public and show the world our unique view of food. Definitely we as chefs improve our culinary skills either by losing or winning a competition.