One of the most hotly contested and sought after All India Inter School Competition 2016 came to an end on Tuesday when Agnes Bernard, of La Martiniere for girls, Kolkata, was crowned as the champion of the ‘Young Chef India Schools’ competition. The event, organized by IIHM (International Institute of Hotel Management) in association with T2 saw the class XII student form Kolkata bag the first position in the season finale held at IIHM Delhi Kitchen where she pimped six other finalists from all over the nation from places such as Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore and Jaipur to victory. Her winning strike was a four course meal where she displayed excellent levels of time management skills, concept and technical expertise and creative plating and taste.
In her own words, her heart was “beating a million times per minute in her throat!”. But she did mention about how confident she felt about her main dish, which she claimed is her “best dish cooked so far”. A senior prefect and goalie for the school football team, Agnes has truly upheld the spirit of the La Martinians and made them proud, said her school principal Rupkatha Sarkar. She points out that Agnes, even after staying in hostel and thereby is deprived of many resources and opportunities, doesn’t fail to participate in the various activities, such as football, dancing, cooking, etc. Post cook-off, an elated and nervous Agnes vented her feelings during the cook-off. She is a fan of Sanjeev Kapoor and is highly inspired by South Indian Cuisine, which she made in the finale in under two hours.
The finale was in two rounds-the first one was cooking the classic French dessert ‘Ouefs a la Neige’ in an hour and the second was cooking something which was “Indian at Heart”. Agnes however tricked the people by going out of the box with her main dish. She didn’t want to make the expected traditional Bengali Dish pertaining to her hometown. So she reflected on her childhood memories of vacation and the tasty foods she had tasted from Vizag. She didn’t panic like she did in the semis and innovated her cooking by thinking on the spot. The event was graced by the ominous presence of the heavyweights of culinary worlds including Ranveer Brar, director of Culinary arts, Indi Smart Group, Chef Sanjay Kak of IIHM and chef Sabyasachi Gorai of Lavaash by Saby. Shaun Kenworthy was the mentor of the event who also happens to be a famous T2 food columnist.
The CEO of IIHM, Mr. Suborno Bose, recalled how he started this event as a platform to encourage youngsters to learn basic cooking as a part of their living. Now standing in its sixth edition, he realizes what started as a mere incentive has now started to carve out this special niche chefs who are not just in demand in India but also throughout the globe. He is excited and optimistic about Indian hospitality and Tourism Department’s rise in the upcoming decades as more and more students are now taking this stream up as a profession.
Apart from the winners crown, 5 other awards were also given out:
- The Jury Award – Karanveer Singh Arora from Delhi
- Best Dessert Award – Sejal Lobo from Bangalore
- Most Organised Chef – Sushaanth Kuttua from Hyderabad
- Digital Savvy Chef Award – Sanjana Mukherjee from Ahmedabad
Agnes won the ‘Best Chef’ award and a prize money worth 5 Lakh rupees which she plans to utilize for her upcoming college studies.
Source: http://goo.gl/rRyvxg
