The Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) Food and Rum Festival inaugural Junior Chef Cook-Off Competition is on to the semi-final round, which will take place on Sunday, October 16, with eight semi-finalists.
The announcement of the eight semi-finalists, six girls and two boys was made this morning by BTMI’s Director of Public Relations and Communications, Aprille Thomas.
She said the quarter-finals occurred last Saturday, October 8, and out of 12 youth, eight young people were chosen to compete in the next round of competition.
The semi-finalists for the Junior Chef Cook-Off competition are: Aliah Hazzard; Shacoby Riley; Deryka Grazette; Samanta Greenidge; Mikalee Williams; Zedekiah Parris; Reese Ann Alleyne, and Destiny Alleyne.
Director Thomas, in her announcement, explained that as part of this year’s Food and Rum Festival under the theme “Feed The Future”, part of the proceeds ($200,000) would be provided to two young persons between the ages of 16 and 21, to pursue degrees at the Jean and Norma Holder Hospitality Institute.
“Culinary development is a critical one for us [BTMI] as we are hosting our Food and Rum Festival, and so we wanted to see how we can actually develop the future of Culinary Arts in Barbados,” Ms. Thomas stated.
To determine the two young people who would be awarded the scholarships, the Junior Chef Cook-Off Competition was conceptualised. The competition is being hosted by renowned trainer and chef Peter Edey; and as part of the competition, he conducted a four-week culinary training programme including sessions in the art of cooking; safety and sanitation; preparation and cooking of a variety of food items; plate presentation; kitchen competition procedures and preparing for competition.
Ms. Thomas expressed thanks to Mr. Edey and the sponsors for coming on board to assist with the competition.
Chef Edey noted that he was very excited and pleased to see the BTMI, through the competition, seeking to develop future culinary artists through the provision of scholarships.
He underscored: “It is important now not only to be able to cook but to be certified in this field… [and] this is one of the best prizes I’ve ever seen for culinary arts in this country. So whoever gets it, please do the very best and make sure you pay it forward.”
Roberts Manufacturing Co. Limited is one of the sponsors and its Marketing Manager, Zaynah King, said the company was happy to assist with sponsorship and that this year’s festival theme “Feed the Future” tied in nicely with the company’s tagline “Nourishing Lives Everyday”.
Speaking about the experience in the competition to date, semi-finalist Shacoby Riley said: “The preparation for the competition was spectacular, we had amazing participation from the students and good competition…. It was good learning from the skills standpoint … I learned a lot from Edey’s class; it was very, very informative and he is a really good teacher, and I’m sure that I can speak for everyone when I say that this was an amazing experience.”
The Junior Chef Cook-Off competition final is expected to be aired on CBC TV8 on Monday, October 24.