Chefs From Around The World Show Off Their Skills At The Gulfood International Culinary League
Teams of chefs from four continents took to the stage at Gulfood 2020, the landmark 25th edition of the region’s longest-running annual food and beverage (F&B) trade show at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) in the hotly-contested 2nd Gulfood International Culinary League (GICL).
The competition challenged talented teams from Asia, Europe, Africa/ME and America, to showcase their local cuisines to a panel of five distinguished culinary icons: Foodiva blogger Samantha Wood; Chef Francesco Guarracino, corporate executive chef of Roberto’s Restaurant and the previous winner of the first Gulfood International Culinary League ; 3 Michelin Star Chef Thomas Buhner; culinary book award-winning author, Flavel Monteiro; Chef Jean Yeow Winter, owner of Jean’s Private Kitchen and Chef Yasser Jad, Founder & President of the Saudi Arabian Chefs Association (SARCA).
After an intense competition centered around sustainability, which judged participants on choice of ingredients, authenticity to local cuisines, flavours, presentation, nutritional value and wastage, Team America, headed by Chef Ernesto Cab Vera, emerged victorious. The team won air tickets to fly to a destination of their choice in addition to claiming the coveted ‘Tastes of the World’ crystal trophy at Gulfood’s 25th anniversary.
The team showcased its Yucatan heritage by preparing 3 dishes – Taco Al Pastor with Octopus, Pepian Verde with roasted duck and Marquesita – hard wafer roles filled with a cheese mousse, as their dessert.
“It is such a great feeling to be recognised for our efforts by the judges and we feel like we have done our Yucatan heritage proud. We are excited to share our culture with people in the UAE. We hope to be back next year to showcase more of our culture,” said Chef Ernesto.Judge Chef Jean Yeow Winter added: “As a person who values sustainability above all else, it was very interesting to see how the chefs use the same ingredients to showcase their local cuisine and how they able to use their ingredients to its maximum capabilities.”
