Junior chefs going for gold

SIX CULINARY TEAMS from across the Caribbean have benefited from a range of developmental workshops and are now vying for the crown in the eighth annual Caribbean Junior Duelling Challenge.

The cooking component of the five-day convention started at the Dining Club, Newton, Christ Church, last Friday.

Organiser and owner of the Dining Club, chef Peter Edey, said for the last three years the two-day convention had been added to allow experienced chefs from across the world to share their expertise with the young chefs.

The workshops included training in molecular cooking, laminated doughs, mixology and a presentation on sanitation and hygiene by noted chef Jeff Rocks.

The challenge attracted teams from The Bahamas, Dominica, St Croix, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados. They competed in the signature/national dish round on Friday.

Saturday was the mystery basket round and yesterday the finalists were due to compete for bragging rights for this year.

Edey said apart from bragging rights, the team would also walk away with a wealth of knowledge.

“With our visiting chefs, they are people that if you had to go elsewhere to see them, a lot of us would not be able to afford that. And they come here and the competitors are so impressed with what they learned and realise that there was so much more that they can learn,” he said.

He added that the fundamental goal of the competition was to promote Caribbean products and cuisine. (LK)