Professional chefs from Abu Dhabi and the rest of the region will compete in the GCC’s first-ever La Cuisine Du SIAL cooking competition, which will run alongside SIAL Middle East at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from November 22 to 24, 2010. La Cuisine Du SIAL is organized by the Abu Dhabi chapter of the Emirates Culinary Guild and is endorsed by the World Association of Chefs’ Societies.
The competition provides a spectacular showcase for chefs to show their skills, techniques and culinary styles in bakery, pastry and confectionery, ice-carving, artistic showpieces, and practical cookery. It is an exciting event dedicated to celebrating the preparation and presentation of food in attractive and pleasing forms. The competitions are open to any professional chefs regardless of age, position or workplace.
Alen Thong, coordinator of the Emirates Culinary Guild and director of La Cuisine Du SIAL, commented: “The festival presents a great opportunity for professional chefs to test and assess themselves against the limits of their perceived abilities, and to clearly present to the industry their artistic and practical attainments. The competition is a platform for professionals to display their myriad talents, network with their peers, interact, and exchange information.” Competitions serve to hone the culinary craft and artistic identity of chefs by obliging them to demonstrate their talents in a formal setting, directly to their peers. “Competitions also play a vital role in that they help continually to raise the standards of culinary excellence. They also motivate young chefs to advance in the culinary field and further refine their expertise,” Alen added.
Many imaginative and artistic culinary creations will be on display for industry professionals throughout the three days of the event. The various classes that can be entered at the show will be published electronically within the next few days, through the dedicated webpage of the competition within the Emirates Culinary Guild official website.
The most interesting class of the competition will be ‘An Abu Dhabi Icon’, where participants will be creating a cake or edible showpiece constructed and decorated so as to celebrate one of Abu Dhabi’s iconic landmarks.
Awards will be conferred according to the decisions of a panel of international chefs, approved by the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (WACS). Taste, appearance, hygiene, good working practice and degree of difficulty are the criteria against which the judges will award points.
“The rules and regulations for competitions are laid down by WACS and so are universal to all WACS endorsed events,” Alen concluded.
