Singapore wins Culinary Olympics 2016

Source: the Singapore National Culinary Team. The Singapore National Culinary Team beat over 30 countries around the world to win the Culinary Olympics 2016 championship title. The team won gold for both the Cold Display and Hot Cooking segments. It is the first time Singapore has won the Culinary Olympics. From left: Teo Yeow Siang, team captain, from Lavish Catering; Triston Fang, team member, from Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora, Resorts World Sentosa; Alan Wong, team member, from Lavish Catering; team manager Louis Tay from Swissotel Merchant Court; Roy Lim, team member, from Unilever FoodSolutions; and Alex Chong, team member, from The Regent Singapore.

It's not only Michelin star chefs that Singapore can boast of now. The Singapore National Culinary Team has won the Culinary Olympics 2016, scoring golds for in the Cold Display and Hot Cooking categories, showing that the country's chefs are world-class too.

The Culinary Olympics is one of the most prestigious international culinary competitions in the world. Held in Erfurt, Germany every four years, this year’s edition took place from 21 to 26 October 2016, with 30 of the world’s top national teams participating.

The Singapore National Culinary Team has a stellar reputation in international culinary competitions. It had been training for a year for the competition. The team is led by Chef Louis Tay, Executive Chef, Swissotel Merchant Court, who has a long list of competition accolades. He was also Team Manager when the Singapore National Culinary Team clinched the championship title for the third time at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg.

The team for Culinary Olympics 2016 was handpicked based on experience, commitment and potential. Team Captain Teo Yeow Siang is from Lavish Catering as is team member Alan Wong. The other team members include Triston Fang from Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora, Resorts World Sentosa; Roy Lim of Unilever FoodSolutions and Pastry Chef Alex Chong who is from Regent Hotel.

For the Culinary Olympics, the team has to deliver a Cold Display, setting up an exhibition table comprising four different kinds of finger foods for six people; a cold festive/buffet platter for eight; three different starters for one; an lacto-ovo vegetarian three-course lunch menu for one; and a festive menu for one. A separate pastry setup must also be displayed, including a show item, four different individual plated desserts for one, plus a display of sweet biscuits, chocolates, petits-fours or friandises (Editor's note: the plate of sweets or pastries served at the very end of a meal).

The second part of the competition is the hot cooking segment. The team has to prepare 110 portions of a three-course meal – an appetiser (with seafood/fish as main ingredient or a combination of both), a main course using butcher’s meat, poultry or game, or a combination thereof; and dessert featuring contrasting textures and temperatures.

Tay said a culinary competition of this level is both emotionally and physically intense. "The team has sacrificed a lot of time and sleep. There are so many people we need to thank. Firstly, the Singapore Chefs’ Association for backing us up and the sponsors who made all this possible. We are very grateful to our mentors, who have also spent a lot of time walking this journey with us, refining our dishes so we can reach perfection. And lastly, the team members and their families for committing so many months of their life to this mission. We are proud (of) our performance, and for representing Singapore the best way possible,” he said.

Interested?

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post about Lavish Catering's launch of premium catering services

CULINARYON opens Singapore cooking studio for classes, parties

A workstation prepped with eggs and two types of flour for making tagliatelle from scratch.

CULINARYON - Europe’s largest edutainment culinary studio, founded in Moscow in 2012, has landed in Singapore. The 7,000 sq ft studio at One Raffles Place, opened only in October 2015 and the company's second, is the largest cooking studio in Asia, the company said.

The CULINARYON Studio accommodates up to 200 people, and can be divided into a conference room and four event areas, each with its own cooking stations, chef table, and a bar, ideal for events, master classes, and teambuilding activities.

At the evening event I attended, courtesy of data protection vendor Acronis, participants were given aprons and then guided by a professional chef to prepare vegetables, fruit and shrimp, make handmade tagliatelle, cook a pasta dish, and then plate it. The event went very smoothly, with participants given the choice to be hands-on or to watch as they wished, and staff helping the process along with helpful advice. The recipes are emailed to participants after the event, and everyone gets to eat their creations.

While my CULINARYON experience involved tagliatelle with shrimp and rucola followed by a dessert of fruit salad and ice cream, the company offers a wide range of cuisines for the master classes, and can provide a buffet of snacks if required.

Interested?

Call CULINARYON at +65 3108 0385 or visit the website
Take the 3D tour of the Singapore cooking studio

Hashtag: #culinaryon_sg

Sofitel SO Bangkok confirms chef lineup for So Amazing Chefs 2015

Source: Sofitel SO Bangkok. 

Sofitel SO Bangkok has confirmed that 12 celebrity chefs from around the world will be in Thailand for the 4th So Amazing Chefs 2015 taking place from 6 to 11 October 2015.

"This year's gastronomic festival is the most high profile event we've ever put together, with the constellation of amazing chefs representing a combined seven Michelin stars. The gathering highlights Bangkok as a foodie city, and promotes the exchange of epicurean ideas and inspirations," said Yves Mudry, General Manager of Sofitel SO Bangkok.

The So Amazing Chefs programme is packed with dinners and cooking classes, with the event highlight – the Culinary Showdown competition and gala dinner– taking place on 9 October with proceeds going towards the CCF Foundation under The Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. New additions this year include the introduction of special weekend brunches and an after-party which will feature guest DJ Chef Ferry van Houten on the decks.

Familiar faces from last year include Stephane Bonnat (Voiron, France), Laurent Peugeot (Burgundy, France), Didier Corlou (Hanoi, Vietnam), Alain Caron (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Ferry van Houten (Amsterdam, Netherlands), and Sofitel SO Bangkok's very own Executive Chef Paul Smart. Making a comeback from the inaugural So Amazing Chefs 2012 is Chris Salans (Bali, Indonesia):

• Bonnat is Maitre-Choclatier at Bonnat, the longest operating chocolaterie in the world. He received two gold awards at the International Chocolate Awards 2015.
• Caron, a Masterchef judge and author, also hosts his own cooking show. 
• Corlou won Masterchef in France and is the chef owner of La Verticale and Madam Hien in Hanoi, Vietnam. 
• Peugeot owns six establishments around the world, including SushiKai (Beaune, France), LP+Tetsu (Singapore), and LP Receptions (Pernand-Vergelesses, France). He is also chef owner of Le Charlemagne (one Michelin star) in Burgundy. 
• Smart was Winning Challenger Chef of Ironchef Thailand in 2012 and 2013.
• Van Houten is chef owner of Het Bosch in Amsterdam, Netherlands. 

Exciting new additions to the 2015 chef roster include Amsterdam-based Menno Post of two-Michelin starred restaurant The Bokkedoorns; Herve Rodriguez, chef owner of MaSa (one Michelin star, Paris), Jacques Pourcel, one-half of Le Jardin des Sens' Pourcel brothers (one Michelin Star); Frenchman Loic Villemin of Toya (one Michelin star, Faulquemont); and Thierry Renou of Le Patio Thierry Renou (one Michelin star, Arcachon).

Interested?

For more information and reservations, call +66 (0) 26 240 000 or email h6835-fb3 at sofitel.com.

Isan Explorer introduces new food tour

Source: Isan Explorer website.

Isan Explorer, a tour company focused on Northeast Thailand, has created a food tour showcasing the cuisine of the country's seldom-visited Isan region.

The full-day tour begins in a large fresh market to buy most of the food that guests will be eating for lunch and the ingredients they will use to cook dinner. It then moves out of the city to a small village. 

The menu is designed for sampling: in total there are 20 main dishes – including bamboo shoot curry, sour fish, grilled chicken, steamed mushrooms, green bean som tam, and eggplant dipping sauce – plus many sides, snacks, and drinks. Before helping their village host prepare dinner, guests will walk around the village to collect some additional ingredients, such as leaves, flowers, fruits, insects, and crabs, depending on the season.

"Isan food has some similarities with Thai food, but overall it's a very different cuisine," explains Tim Bewer, Isan Explorer's founder. "And some popular foods that people think of as Thai, such as spicy papaya salad (som tam), are actually Isan foods adopted by the rest of the country."

Interested?

View the itinerary

Watch the associated video