Taste New Zealand culinary competition kicks off

Entries have opened for the Taste New Zealand culinary competition’s 2015 edition, inviting professional chefs across the UAE to compete and create dishes that showcase New Zealand produce.

The theme for this year’s competition is ‘Create, Plate, Picture’ and participating chefs must submit an image of a dish they have created using a New Zealand ingredient.

Ten finalists will then be invited to a cook-off at the competition final on April 11 at the International Centre for Culinary Arts in Dubai.

This year, the competition will allow participants to nominate a professional chef partner to assist them in the kitchen during the cook-off.

Commenting on the annual competition, New Zealand trade commissioner to the UAE Haylon Smith said: “Taste New Zealand is a celebration of New Zealand food and beverage and offers professional chefs the opportunity to learn more about New Zealand produce in a competitive format. This will be the third year that we host the competition and we’re excited to see what this year’s contestants bring to the table.”

Judges at this year’s competition include Zuma executive chef Reif Othman, Emirates senior vice president Dnata Catering Robin Padgett, Jean George Dubai executive chef Colin Clague, and Chef Middle East operations manager Bruce Woolner.

The Taste New Zealand competition aims to raise awareness of the quality of New Zealand food and drink products available in the UAE among participating chefs and buyers. The 2015 champion will win a return trip to New Zealand.