Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala launch Zest Quest Asia Summer Challenge

Restaurateurs Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala have announced the launch of the first Zest Quest Asia Summer Challenge, an online spin-off of Zest Quest Asia, their annual student culinary competition.

The Zest Quest Asia Summer Challenge aims to raise the profile and knowledge of Asian cuisine among student chefs in the UK. It is open to individuals working on their own, with or without the help of a tutor.

UK-based, full-time students aged 16-21 who wish to take part can post a photo of themselves with their Asian-inspired dish on Facebook or Instagram, along with the name of their college or university, a description of the recipe and a brief history of why they chose the dish as well as any pitfalls they experienced along the way. They should tag @ZestQuestAsia and use the hashtag #ZestQuestAsiaSummerChallenge.

The winners will be picked by Cyrus and Pervin and Murray Chapman, chef-founder of Passion to Inspire.

All entries should be posted online by 30 July.

The first prize is a meal for four (including the winner’s tutor, if any) prepared by Cyrus. The second prize will include a range of Mr Todiwala’s products, and two other entries will be selected to win a signed copy of one of Cyrus’s cookbooks.

The winning recipe descriptions and accompanying photos will be posted on Zest Quest Asia’s social media channels.

Pervin said: “Cyrus and I didn’t want Zest Quest Asia to lose its momentum during this difficult moment in our industry’s history, so we approached Murray Chapman, one of our competition judges, who organised our Zest Quest Asia Upskill Day last November. It didn’t take long for the three of us to come up with the idea of a simple, online competition that would give students and pupils something to aspire to using pots and pans during lockdown.”

For more information email murray@firstcontactuk.com