U-First Cooking Competition-Pat Monthy does it again |02 October 2004

The pastry competition was won by Natasha Molle who works at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Hotel.

Both competitions took place at the Seychelles Hospitality and Training College (SHTTC).

Monthy, who won  the competition last year, prepared a tropical salad with smoked sailfish and papaya vinaigrette (starter) and sauté prawns with saffron sauce (main course). He won a trophy and R3000.

White mousse with caramel  sauce and orange tuille propelled Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Hotel's pastry chef Molle to the top in the  pastry competition.

The cooks competition, which had for theme "Creole Symphony" was organised by the U-First Committee in collaboration with the Association of Cooks. It  formed part of the various activities organised to commemorate the Tourism Week.

The participants were given a basket containing different local food ingredients like fish, palmist, prawns and local vegetables and had to prepare original dishes.

On the first day of the competition, the panel of  judges, who included members of the cooks  association, had  the task to chose five finalists out of 13 participants who had to compete against each other in the  final.

The criteria for judging included basic preparation techniques, method of preparation,  approach, creativity, safety while using utensils, nutritional aspects as well as hygiene.
The judges were divided into two groups with the first having to judge  the participants in action in the kitchen while the other judged the tasting and presentation.

Ten participants entered for the pastry competition.

According to Guy Abel, coordinator of the competition and also a member of the Association of Cooks, the contest was an opportunity to encourage cooks to use local products in food preparation.

Mr Abel said that the competition brought many cooks and pastry chefs together to share their experiences. He added that the competition was also a way to influence cooks  to join the association.