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Bengaluru’s Madhumitha to represent India at 5th edition of Int’l YCO
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Thursday, 24 January, 2019, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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Madhumitha K P, a third year student at IIHM Bangalore, will represent India at the fifth essay of the International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO), the world’s biggest culinary competition for student chefs, which is slated to be held across four cities of India - New Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru and Kolkata - between January 28 and February 2, 2019.
An admirer of Chef Marco Pierre White and the cookery show Nigella’s Kitchen, she added, “Representing my country at the world’s biggest culinary extravaganza is an honour for me. I am excited about competing with peers from over 50 countries, each of whom would be putting his or her best foot forward.”
“For me, cooking is a beautiful art, and as an artist, I endeavour to add just the right palette of colour, flavour and mood. I am geared up to give my best at YCO 2019, and am currently focussing on sharpening my culinary skills to set the bar high at the Olympiad,” Madhumitha said.
YCO 2019 will witness participation from budding chefs from 50 countries, including England, Wales, Canada, Russia, Spain, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Thailand, France, Italy and Hong Kong.
These contestants will represent some of the world’s top culinary and hospitality institutions. During a five-day long intense competition, they will undertake three rounds of culinary challenges in their quest to win the coveted YCO 2019 winner’s trophy, a cash prize of $10,000 and a validation of their skills by globally-renowned experts from the food and hospitality industry.
The event is being organised by the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) in partnership with the International Hospitality Council (IHC) London. Launched in 2015, YCO aims to create an international platform to showcase young professional culinary talent from around the world as well as create camaraderie and goodwill among nations by connecting them through the world’s most preferred language – food.
Regarding YCO’s successful journey over the last five years, Suborno Bose, chairman, YCO 2019 Committee, and founder and chief mentor, IIHM, said, “It is heartening to see the tremendous response that the event has received from the hospitality and culinary industry globally, with the number of countries participating in YCO growing from 15 in the inaugural edition to 50 in 2019.”
“YCO is emerging as an annual global convention for the culinary stars of tomorrow, where they get to observe and learn the diverse food preparation techniques and cultures of various parts of the world,” he added.
“This is an unparalleled opportunity for the participants, who are just beginning their careers in this dynamic industry. Our aim is to have over 100 countries participating in YCO by 2022 and going by the growth we have seen in just half-a-decade, I am sure we will be able to achieve this goal,” Bose said.
YCO 2019 will begin on January 28, with a grand opening ceremony at Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Auditorium in Delhi. The competition rounds will start the following day, and the first two rounds will be held in New Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru. The top ten contestants, as per the scores of the two rounds, will compete in the grand finale of YCO 2019 in Kolkata on February 2.
The Plate Trophy is being introduced at YCO this year, for which the contestants holding positions 11 to 20 in the first two rounds will be competing on February 2. The Olympiad will conclude the same day with a closing ceremony, where the YCO 2019 champion, runners-up and other awardees will be announced.
The participants will be competing for a total of 18 awards this year, including The Rising Star Award, Best Vegetarian Dish, Best Dessert Dish, Best Hygiene Practice and Mentor’s Nomination Award.
In the competition’s first round, the contestants will be required to prepare four portions of a Classical Chicken Saute Chasseur (served with a fondant potato) as well as eight portions of Classical Rum Baba in two hours. In this round, they will be judged for their ability to follow the recipe and display of basic skills.
In Round 2 of YCO 2019, two hours will be given to the contestants to prepare a vegetarian dish and a King Prawn dish, suitable for a lunch menu at a bistro or brasserie restaurant, from a basket of ingredients and based on their own recipes.
The primary judging criteria for this round will be creativity, innovation and cooking technique. For the Plate Trophy Finals, the contestants will be required to prepare a chicken dish and a potato dish from a variety of ingredients, including four essential ingredients, in two hours.
The grand finale of YCO 2019 will be a test of the contestants’ creativity, innovation, skills and professional good practice. The 10 finalists will be given two-and-a-half hours to prepare four portions of a salmon dish with a contemporary garnish and a creative potato dish to complement it using only the basket of ingredients provided.
They will also have to prepare 4 portions of a new innovative dessert of their choice, again from a basket of ingredients provided. Both dishes have to be prepared and served as appropriate in a brasserie restaurant environment. There will be a mystery ingredient added to the basket of ingredients, which must be used in the salmon dish only.
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor will be the principal judge for YCO 2019, while Prof David Foskett, author of the bestselling book Practical Cookery & Theory of Catering, and emeritus professor, London School of Hospitality and Tourism, University of West London, will be the chairperson of the jury.
The panel of judges will include internationally acclaimed chefs such as John Wood, Ranveer Brar, Andreas Muller, Enzo Oliveri, Ron Scott, Abhijit Saha, Andy Varma, Enrico Bricarello, Parvinder Singh Bali and David Graham, among others.
The judges will evaluate the cheftestants not only on their culinary skills, but also on their ability to efficiently manage a food production area keeping in mind factors like health and safety, good hygiene practice, ability to follow a recipe, culinary skills, creativity, etc.
Explaining his focus areas as YCO 2019 judge, Bali, corporate chef, learning and development, The Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development, said, “I will be paying special attention to their hygiene and knowledge about food safety.”
“I will also be observing if the contestants are using the correct tool for correct jobs and the right cooking technique and process. Moreover, I will judge their food by tasting it for flavours, taste, textures and presentation,” he added.
Bali also gave some useful tips to the competitors. He said, “There will be only one winner, but this experience is for everyone, and you must make the most of it. Secondly, don’t just focus on presentation as it only carries a few percentage of marks.”
“Focus on taste, colour, textures and flavours. You must also remember that the judges are very particular about food hygiene, correct methods of cooking and zero wastage. Lastly, follow the KISS principle; keep it simple and straight-forward,” Bali added.
According to Italian celebrity chef and YCO 2019 judge Enzo Oliveri, “It is my third year with YCO, and I have seen this event growing a great deal. There are a lot more countries, more determined young chefs and more talented mentors.”
“I see the best of the best young chefs of the world competing to win, but more than anything I see them being together and enjoying the friendship with everyone, no matter where they come from,” he added.
“As we all know, YCO is big and can be intimidating. What I would say to the competitors is to just relax and give your best shot. You are a winner anyway, as you are representing your country, and are going to compete with the best young chefs in the world,” Oliveri said.
Edward Eng Sheng Pei from Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus will represent Malaysia at YCO 2019. He said, “I am so grateful that I have been granted this great opportunity to participate in one of the biggest cooking events.”
“I have always been very passionate about learning different cuisines, from Asian to Western. I am happy, as I will be able to meet all the contestants from across the world, and all of us will be able to share our experience about our culinary journey as well as our culture and food,” he added.
“I am also grateful that I will be able to showcase my professional skills and passion in the coming event,” Pei said.
The winners of the past editions of YCO were Ashwin Nicholas Oon from Malaysia (2015), Daniella Germond from Canada (2016), Tham Jiajun Mathew from Singapore (2017) and Lai Jia Yi from Malaysia (2018).
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