THE Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort and Spa has big plans for the lucky student who will scoop the inaugural Chef of the Year award at the 2018 School Chefs Challenge. Executive chef Shailesh Naidu said Chef of the Year — a new category that has been added to this year’s competition — will determine which secondary school student has the most creativity in the kitchen.
“It is considered the most prestigious category by the organisers,” he said. “The students should be skilful enough to prepare any main course for two people within 75 minutes. “They will be given an extra 15 minutes to plan their menu. “All ingredients will be provided via a mystery box. “There are big plans for the winner so I would encourage all the best secondary school chefs to come prepared.”
Mr Naidu said excitement was building as the countdown began for one of the biggest calendar events of the secondary school year.
“As this competition has now gone to the next level, we are looking forward to a lot more high quality and very innovative displays by the participants.”
What initially started out as a community project for the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort kitchen team at Sigatoka Andhra Sangam College in 2012 has grown immensely.
With only a handful of schools from around Nadroga participating in the first few years, it has since developed into a national competition.
“It was brought to the Outrigger Fiji ballroom three years ago after it became too big to be held at Sigatoka Andhra,” Mr Naidu said.
“This year’s event is scheduled for 5 and 6 July at the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort ballroom.
“The theme for this year’s competition is ‘Promoting Healthy and Fresh Food Culture’.”
