UAE chefs win Gold Medals at FHA Culinary Challenge in Singapore

The six-member team flew to Singapore to compete from April 25 to 28, at the Singapore Exposition Centre. The Food Hotel Asia Culinary Challenge is recognised as one of the leading and most prestigious culinary competitions in the world.

Competing against 600 chefs from 21 countries, the UAE team from Jumeirah won their gold medals in the Gourmet Team Challenge, also taking the title of Best Pastry Chef (Sumeda Palihakkara) in the Individual Challenge, and ending as second runners-up overall.

"It is the first time that the Emirates Culinary Guild has sent a team to compete in an international competition and we think it is a fantastic result. The UAE and specifically Dubai have been doing very well in the culinary sector. Every restaurant concept or cuisine is found in the country today. While UAE chefs have always performed well at the annual Salon Culinaire that we host in Dubai, this win has ably demonstrated our capabilities at the international level," said Uwe Micheel, President of the Emirates Culinary Guild.

Speaking for the sponsors, Mohamed El Salawy, Marketing Manager, Unilever Foodsolutions, said: "We are proud to be associated with the UAE team that has won some of the most coveted titles at the Culinary Challenge in Singapore.

As one of the world's leading foodservice businesses, we set for ourselves big goals, coupled with a positive attitude, all of which are reflected in the UAE team's spirit and their achievements at this prestigious event. Unilever Foodsolutions works with customers, including restauranteurs and major hotel chains, to create food solutions that help grow their business.

Our products deliver convenience, replacing fresh produce to save time, effort and money; while delivering high quality food and the best taste, as close to fresh as possible."
The Gourmet Team challenge required the team to cook and present a cold buffet for 30 people within 24 hours. The international teams were judged by 56 master chefs with international recognition.

Moritz Schubert, Executive Sous Chef at the Madinat Jumeirah, The Arabian Resort, Dubai, and UAE team leader, describes the Gourmet Challenge as "one of the most established team competitions in the world."

Team members Moritz Schubert, Alun Sperring, Chee Leong, Paul Baker, Sumeda Palihakkara and Lesti Hastuti all practice their art for the Jumeirah Group. Other teams competing in part in the international buffet competition were from Germany, Singapore, Japan, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

"In Singapore, you know there's a high standard of food quality and artistic talent. All the team members were looking for new challenges, but it was not all plain sailing," recalls Chef Schubert.

"During the Dream Team competition, we were using two hotel kitchens to prepare the food: Raffles Plaza and Swiss Hotel. The hotels are situated almost directly opposite each other. Due to a serious lack of sleep, there was a slight miscommunication between where the food should be delivered, and where it should be cooked!! So, we found ourselves doing midnight runs with trolleys of foods, from one hotel to the other. But the final result was worth all the trouble."

All the dishes presented at the Culinary Challenge will be integrated into the menus of the Jumeirah hotels.