Culinary competition

[L-R] Eranga Naleendra, Zain Sidhu, Raimund Haemmerle, Michel Miraton, Rebecca Sturt, Christophe Prud'homme, Michael Kitts and Wael Riachy.

A group of F&B professionals with a range of competition experience met up at the delicious Downtown Deli in Dubai Mall this month, to consider why culinary contests are integral to industry progress — and why Middle East events still need some refining

TAKING PART
• Eranga Naleendra, chef, Downtown Deli and winner of the gold medal for Best Gastronomist at Salon Culinaire 2010
• Zain Sidhu, advisory chef, Nestlé Professional
• Raimund Haemmerle, executive sous chef, Dubai World Trade Centre
• Michel Miraton, culinary director, Faisal Holding Hotels and vice president junior development for the Emirates Culinary Guild
• Rebecca Sturt, bar training and development manager, MMI
• Christophe Prud’homme, executive chef, Al Bustan Rotana Dubai
• Michael Kitts, head chef and senior lecturer, Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management
• Wael Riachy, executive chef, Unilever Foodsolutions Arabia

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In what way do food and beverage competitions help advance the industry?

Raimund Haemmerle: I think for young chefs, it’s a great opportunity to learn something — to get out there, see what other people are doing, and push themselves; and this all helps to raise standards within the industry.

Michel Miraton: For young chefs, it’s good to get outside the hotel, to see something different and experience a new way of working.

Michael Kitts: Culinary events are a bit like a fashion show; chefs will see small details or perhaps whole works that are new to them, they will be inspired by those elements and take ideas away from the show. And certainly from a student perspective, competitions really do inspire them to aim higher each time, and get involved in other competitions, because they get a real buzz from it.

Eranga Naleendra: My personal opinion is that competitions can also offer chefs taking part a refreshing change. We are used to spending our time in the kitchens at our property, cooking for guests, and if that’s all you do you can get stale. So getting outside your comfort zone, going somewhere new and cooking for a different audience can be really enjoyable.

Rebecca Sturt: From an organiser’s point of view, what we’re really aiming to accomplish with our competitive events is to bring the industry together. I know, for the beverage industry, things have changed massively since competitions were introduced to the region, and I think it’s helped put the Middle East on the global map, because people who win events here are then going to do very well in the global finals — which didn’t happen 10 years ago.

So the competition scene is really an opportunity for us to show what we have here and bring the region to the world’s attention.

Zain Sidhu: And from another perspective, competitions also help us highlight our products: for example, chefs get the opportunity to try out a new item and get creative with it in a way they might not have tried in the workplace. Then we can get feedback from them about how to improve our products to really meet their needs.

Wael Riachy: For us, we are looking to showcase the diversity of our brands through the events we organise, and give the chefs a broad view of their applications.