Malaysia won World's 1st International Young Chef Olympiad title
Malaysia won World's 1st International Young Chef Olympiad title

Ashwin from Malaysia has won the 1st International Young Chef Award that was being hosted at IIHM Kolkata.

World's First International Young Chef Olympiad 2015 was inaugurated in Kolkata on 29th January at the city center.

In an Olympic style opening ceremony, all the participating countries marched along with their respective country flags supported by their teams and cheers of the crowd.

Participating countries were United States of America, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Switzerland, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India, which was represented by Dhriti, 3rd year student of IIHM Jaipur, who was greeted with the largest crowd cheer.

Scott Furssedonn Wood, The British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata, congratulated the teams and wished them luck for participating in the first ever International Young Chef Olympiad in the world.
    
The International Young Chef Olympiad trophy was unveiled by Dr Suborno Bose, Founder of YCO Initiative, Chairman of the Organizing committee of the Young Chef Olympiad and Chief Mentor of International Institute of Hotel Management, followed by the grand entry of the Olympiad flag, carried by four successful women of India - Madhumita Mohanta, Exec Chef, The Lalit Great Eastern - Kolkata; Siddhika Ghosh - Owner of Restaurant "The Wise Owl" in Kolkata; Chef Payal - Master Chef finalist from Kolkata; and Chef Preeti Singh - who made Kolkata proud.

The oath taking ceremony was undertaken by representatives of the participating countries, judges and the coaches. From India, Dhriti took the oath on behalf of all the participants. Equally scintillating was the entry of the brightly lit Olympiad torch carried by Garima Poddar, Winner of the Young Chef India Schools 2014 contest held in London, who along with all the contestants on the stage joined hands together to light up the flames carefully incorporated on the top of the cake, under the supervision of the Culinary Director of IIHM Chef Sanjay Kak.

The Grand Finals were equally competitive where judges asked the contestants to make only vegetarian dishes. To top it up, the contestants from France and Spain had never been trained to make a purely vegetarian dish.

The winner was Ashwin from Malaysia, followed by 1st runner up Marcin from Spain and 2nd runner up Tajinder from UK. Judges were impressed by the talent and introduced an award for the Outstanding Dish as well, which was won by Ian from Kenya.

Ashwin, the 2015 International Young Chef Olympiad winner, took home a cash award of $10,000 USD, a gold medal and memories from India to cherish for a life time.
Quotes:

"I dream to put India on the culinary map of the world. I dream to create the awareness among million of Indian youngsters to realize that culinary and hospitality is the most promising and creative career. I dream of an India where like the IT industry, the culinary and hospitality industry becomes a driving force behind our rising economy and I dream of an India who will produce thousands of celebrity chefs who would conquer the entire world. We promise to bring 100 countries in the 2nd International Young Chef Olympiad in 2016," said Dr. Suborno Bose, Chairman, IIHM Global & Chairman, Executive Committee - YCO.
 

 
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