The second edition of Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) organised by India’s largest hotel school chain, International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, from 27th January, 2016 to 1st February, 2016 was won by Daniella Germond from Canada.
All contestants from 51 countries were divided into three groups and sent to three different cities – Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai – for the first leg and then brought to Calcutta for two rounds of the final heats. The top 11 contestants from USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Mauritius, UAE, Switzerland, Finland, Romania, France, Kenya and Mexico battled it out where Daniella from Canadian Food and Wine Institute, Ontario lifted the Young Chef Olympiad 2016 trophy and took home a cool US$10,000.
Each contestant had to cook one chicken dish, one fish dish and a common dessert (Floating Islands also called Oeufs a la Niege in French) within three hours. Her first winning dish was Confit Chicken Leg with Braised Cabbage, Potato Gnocchi and Balsamic Reduction and the second was Pan Seared Sea Bass with Kaffir-scented Rice, Roasted Cauliflower, Crisp Leek and Spinach Yogurt Puree. She actually did two types of chicken in one dish – crispy chicken with a skin on and the other was a roulade.
Fernando Andres Guajardo Moguel from Mexico and Johan Kurkela from Finland took home the bronze, while UAE’s Gabriela Aleksandrova Hristova was declared first runner-up. The winners took the stage with some gurus of the culinary world –Sanjeev Kapoor, Andy Varma, Udo Leick, Shaun Kenworthy, Kunal Kapur, Sabyasachi Gorai (Saby), Abhijit Saha, Manjit Singh Gill, Andreas Muller, Ranveer Brar and David Foskett.
“Humbled to see the world assemble for the occasion. This platform is for bringing all young chefs from the culinary institutes under common mandate to learn, teach and network and to grow together,” said Suborno Bose, the chief mentor and CEO of IIHM and the IndiSmart Group.
Mr Vinod Zutshi, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, also added, “I convey my best wishes to the Institute for putting India at the centre of the culinary map of the world.”
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