The Asian Junior Chefs Challenge open for entries
The Master Chefs of Great Britain and Cyrus Todiwala have launched The Asian Junior Chefs Challenge.
Described as "Cyrus' brainchild" by Master Chef Clive Roberts and chef patron of the Old Forge Restaurant in West Sussex, the competition is backed by colleges including Westminster Kingsway, University College Birmingham and West Herts and aims to get young British chefs to better understand the importance of Asian cuisine.
The competition is for teams of three students and one lecturer and will require entrants to think holistically about Asian cuisine.
"We will be looking for evidence that they have considered sustainability; provenance and authenticity. More importantly for the first time in a UK competition we will deduct points for wastage" Todiwala added.
Each team will be expected to demonstrate their technical expertise, creativity, knowledge and appreciation of Asian cuisine by preparing a four-course authentic Pan Asian meal.
The competition is also expected to complement the efforts of college "centres of excellence" which last year received funding from Government to tailor and deliver training in Asian cookery in a bid to resolve the Asian restaurant sector's growing recruitment crisis.
The prize for the winning team includes dinner and an overnight stay at the Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 and a week in Bombay, Delhi and Poona
Sponsors of the event will supply everything from ingredients and uniforms and include: Carlson Rezidor; Carisma; Cobra Beer; Oliver Harvey; Ritu; Schwartz; Tilda; Tibard; Cafe Spice Namaste and Mr Todiwala's Kitchen.
For full entry details, contact Sue McGeever at masterchefs@msn.com