Nestlé Professional is now accepting applications for Female Chef of the Year 2009 — the Middle East's only annual contest exclusively for female chefs.
The competition was launched by Nestlé Professional to “provide a stage for female chefs to practice and prepare themselves for bigger competitions”, according to a company spokesperson.
Open to female chefs of chef de partie level or lower, the event will see contestants prepare, cook and present two recipes — a main course and dessert — within an hour.
Final dishes will be judged in three categories: main course, dessert and hygiene. The gold-medal winner will be the highest-scoring chef on a combined score across all three categories, but silver and bronze medals will also be awarded, along with a special award for hygiene.
Organiser Nestle Professional has so far confirmed two judges — Pamela Gould, chef de cuisine at Le Méridien Mina Seyahi’s Barasti Bar, and Gabriele Kurz, chef at Madinat Jumeirah’s Magnolia restaurant.
Commenting on the importance of competitive events for chefs, Magnolia’s Kurz said cooking good food created “a culture of understanding between people”.
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Kurz also urged females working in the industry to “enjoy being a professional professional chef with inspiration, simplicity, passion, curiosity, respect for nature and an open mind”.
Barasti’s Gould added: “Female chefs are sometimes shy about participating in large competitions, so this will act as a great platform for them to practice competing.
“Once they see the results and rewards their efforts achieve, they will feel more comfortable about future shows.”
Gould also advised participants to “have fun and be creative”.
“Think about your flavours, make sure that they do work together, and also think about the presentation. It doesn’t need to be out of this world — it needs to be simple but eye-catching and tasty,” she asserted.
The competition will be held at ICCA Satwa Dubai, on August 4, 2009.
Chefs who would like to compete should send an email expressing their interest to zain.sidhu@ae.nestle.com, including name, job title and restaurant.
HME.com spoke to two female chefs working in Dubai about their lives in the predominantly male world of the professional kitchen; click here to read the interviews.
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