Dubai World Trade Centre hospitality team competes in Salon Culinaire 2009

All of the chefs will be looking for a chance to distinguish themselves from their industry peers through international quality of both food and presentation, whilst showcasing the world class standards and skills range of the DWTC team.

The Emirates International Salon Culinaire 2009 - organised by the Emirates Culinary Guild, the UAE's association of professional chefs - is a four-day culinary extravaganza that includes seminars, competitions, and demonstrations for chefs. The event kicked off this Monday with the start of Gulfood 2009 and is currently inspiring trade visitors and exhibitors alike with: cookery demonstrations; live cooking competitions; ice carving demonstrations; buffet and banqueting showpieces; pastry and sugar set pieces; and bakery and confectionery innovations.

At last year's competition, the team battled against 1,000 international professional chefs to walk away with the highest honours for any participating organization, winning 11 gold, 23 silver and 14 bronze medals across a range of competitive categories including Individual Ice and Chocolate Carving, Traditional Arabic Mezzeh, Gourmet Dinner, Vegetarian Menus and New Arabian Cuisine.

Returning for a second year running is DWTC chef Lifeng Dong, who last year was the best individual performer, winning 4 gold medals and surpassing his previous record of 3 golds. Felix Gaan will also be competing to repeat his impressive performance of 2 individual gold medals.

This year, votes will be cast by a panel of 20 international judges - each mandated by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS), adjudging the differing skills of entrants whilst also celebrating the preparation and presentation of food and its accoutrements in attractive and pleasing forms. DWTC hope to break all previous records and reinforce their position as one of the region's most talented teams.

Helal Saeed Al Marri, CEO, Dubai World Trade Centre said:

"Our award winning hospitality and catering team is a priority for DWTC as it forms part of our long-term strategy to make Dubai the global hub for all major events, exhibitions and conferences. The team's 2008 performance was not only evidence of their world class standard, but also a significant boost to our reputation as an international provider of service excellence. I look forward to seeing their talent shine for a second year running."

Innovation and presentation have long been the hallmark of the Hospitality team at DWTC, which regularly receives international praise for combining traditional Emirati dishes with a nouveau five-star approach. Head Chef Harald Oberender and Executive Banquet Chef Khalel Mustapha have recently put the finishing touches to the DWTC 30th Anniversary cookbook, a one-of-a-kind collection of thirty traditional Emirati dishes to celebrate the last thirty years of this pioneering establishment which first opened its doors in 1979. The book, entitled "A Culinary Journey.

Celebrating 30 years of our history" will be launched at the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature (EAIFL), the first event of its kind on this scale in the Middle East, kicking off on Thursday 26th February at the Intercontinental Hotel, Festival City. The anniversary book will soon be available for sale at key book stores throughout the Emirates including Magrudy's, Borders, Virgin, Kinokuniya and Dubai Duty Free.

As well as providing catering support for meetings and exhibitions held within DWTC venues, the team is also one of the largest providers of hospitality and catering services to external events in the UAE. In 2008, the department served an impressive 1,017,335 covers, marking a 14% increase in catering for MICE events alone.