Renaissance Dubai Iranian Chef wins gold medal

More than a 1000 entries were received in the annual event held at the Dubai Trade Centre.

Chef Reza claimed the gold medal in the "live cooking category" where chefs were asked to prepare a plated menu that incorporated basic Arabic staples in a new twist.

Chef Reza believes that his originality in preparing the menu was the key to him winning the award.

However he admitted he was quite nervous while preparing the food, as he was distracted by having the judges and cameras watching his every step and movement.

The Emirates Salon Culinaire culinary competition took place over the four days of the Gulf Food Exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Centre Complex.

It is a showcase for the food and hospitality industry and over 600 professional chefs from the region participated in the competition this year, carving, cooking and decorating in the 28 different classes, ranging from Wedding cakes, Pastry Show Pieces to Arabian Cuisine.

Through the culinary competitions, the salon aims to inspire young chefs to strive for continuous improvement and to encourage them in perfecting their culinary arts.

A panel of 17 international judges, approved and appointed by the World Association of Cooks Societies, evaluated the performance of the chefs and awarded the medals during the event.

The Salon Culinaire competition is focused on perfecting culinary arts skills rather than competing against others.

Gold, silver and bronze medals are therefore awarded to those chefs that achieve pre-set international standards in the various categories.

Born in Esfahan, Iran, Mohammed Reza became a chef rather early in his life. He has worked since 1993 in various companies as a chef, among them Petrol Co and the Metro Co.

In 1997 he joined the Sadaf Hotel as Head Chef, before coming to Dubai in 2006. He is in charge of all Iranian cuisine at the Renaissance.

His repertoire is immense and varied including a wide variety of salads, soups, stews and even desserts.

His specialty dishes are the charcoal grilled meats and seafood.

He is married with one child, and his hobbies include teaching Arabic and Iranian food to others and sports like swimming and fishing.

He has just returned from Courtyard by Marriott, Chennai, India where he was requested to supervise the culinary aspect of their Arabian Food festival, which turned out to be their most successful festival ever.