Anchor Food Professionals Pastry & Culinary Challenge 2018 at KDU University College

I had the privilege to witness the prize giving ceremony to the three top winners of the culinary category for the Anchor Food Professionals Pastry & Culinary Challenge 2018. The challenge took place at KDU University College and being there for the first time, I was quite impressed by the amenities and facilities provided at the place. As you may or may not know, Anchor Food Professionals which is an unrivalled leader in the dairy foodservice industry. Once again doing their bid to raise the benchmark in the industry by hosting the highly anticipated Anchor Food Professionals Pastry & Culinary Challenge 2018.

The Anchor Food Professionals Pastry & Culinary Challenge 2018 was held at KDU University College

The Challenge is a four-day competition starting 13th until 16th of March based on three categories namely Pastries, Cake and Culinary. Pastry and Culinary maestros have been invited to form the luminary panel of judges with Chef Jean Francois Arnaud MOF serving as the Head Judge in Pastry Category, along with Chef Nazeri Ismail, and Chef Arthur Heng in this category.  In the Culinary Category, Chef Gerhard Albrecht serves as the Head Judge, along with Chef Fami Taufeq and Chef Sabri Hassan. 

Chef Sabri Hassan (left), Chef Fami Taufeq and Chef Gerhard Albrecht giving their comments to the participants

Linda Tan, Director of Anchor Food Professionals shared that competitions like this are important for the industry as it provides a platform for the sharing of experience and knowledge, nurturing the potential of Malaysia’s future culinary and pastry artisans and elevating the standards of the food & beverage industry. 


Gold award winner for the Culinary Category is won by Nigel Walter Lazaroo from The Face Suites, Platinum Victory Resort. From left: Linda Tan, Nigel Walter Lazaroo and Chef Gerhard Albrecht.


As the gold award winner, Nigel prepared the Poached Fresh Water Prawn as appetiser,
Malaysian Spiced Duck Breast as main course and Seafood Bouillabaisse Soup.

During the interview, he said that he was shocked when he was called out as the gold award winner. He told us that the reason why he pick up culinary is his mom. When he was young, he likes to watch football on tv but his mum preferred to watch cooking shows instead. From there onwards, he started to show interest in cooking because he felt that it's a lot more than cooking where he can travel, meet more people and share about his experience. Nigel who is a KDU University College graduate has yet to discover his own signature dish.


Silver award winner for the Culinary Category is won by Muhammad Ikhwan Bin Mustafar from One IFC Hotel. From left: Linda Tan, Muhammad Ikhwan Bin Mustafar and Chef Sabri Hassan.


Muhammad Ikhwan has prepared the Red Mullet of Malaysia as appetiser, Spring in Malaysia as main course and Oriental Soup.

Ikhwan did not expect to win the silver award because his plan did not turn out as what he wanted during the challenge but he's grateful that his dishes are still selected to win the award. At the comfort of his home, he is an online pastry seller but culinary is his main passion.


Bronze award winner for the Culinary Category is won by Muhammad Khidhir Bin Md Augustli from Hotel Istana. From left: Linda Tan, Muhammad Khidhir Bin Md Augustli and Chef Fami Taufeq.


Muhammad Khidhir also prepared an appertiser Stuffed Chicken Breast with Black Truffle and Daun Kaduk for the main course and Pindang Serani Soup Served With Popiah Skin Cracker Baba Ganoush Cream Puree.

Muhammad Khidhir favorite chef is his mum and he's really happy that he won the bronze award in the challenge. He likes to explore and try different type of dishes and he was able to use Anchor's product for the first time to prepare his dishes.



“As the country’s largest provider of high-quality dairy products and ingredients, we are constantly engaging with chefs and in the course of our work have discovered so much hidden potential within. Some have carved a name for themselves and some are gems waiting to be uncovered. We felt it was our duty to explore, nurture and celebrate the amazing number of young chefs in this country who can reach greater heights with the right encouragement,” Linda explained.

“Winning the category is a proud badge of recognition amongst peers and gives a leg-up to finalists as this Challenge is highly regarded in the industry and is steered by a panel of judges considered the best in the industry,” Linda added.

Each day of the challenge will see different contestants from different industries competing in Pastry (13 March; Bakery channel), Cake (14 March for Bakery Channel and 15 March for Hotel Channel) and the newly added Culinary Category (16 March for Hotel Channel). In the Pastry Category the contestants are required to create a simple croissant and a Danish whereas under the Cake Category each contestant is required to create two types of cakes with Mango and Strawberry themes respectively.



Pastry Challenge – Pastries Category l Bakery
Gold Award: Tan Chee Kit from Grainloaf Sdn Bhd, Penang



Pastry Challenge – Cake Category l Hotel
Gold Award: Gan Terk Yeong from Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara
Silver Award: Nyon Pei Shan from Intercontinential Kuala Lumpur
Bronze Award: Tan Shong Yee from Double Tree by Hilton KL



Pastry Challenge – Cake Category l Bakery
Gold Award: Yong Yi Yunn from Bake Culture Brunei
Silver Award: Loh Qi Yuan from Moonlight Cake House Sdn Bhd
Bronze Award: Yeoh Kean Loon from Dolce Dessert

In the Culinary Category the theme is Land and Sea of Malaysia with an inculcated twist of Modern French Cuisine. Contestants are required to prepare a 3-course meal based on the theme and criteria given.

A group photo of the participants of Culinary Category with Linda Tan and Chef Gerhard

There are 25 finalists competing in this Challenge in all three categories separately. The first prize for each category includes prizes worth RM5,000, a medal, certificate and a Winner Endorsement Sticker. Second prize includes prizes worth RM3,000, a medal and certificate. Finally, the third place includes prizes worth RM2,000, a medal and certificate.

The participants of the competition have made full use of Anchor’s leading products in the diary segment namely Anchor Cream Cheese, Anchor Butter Sheet, Anchor Butter, Anchor UHT Milk, Anchor Whipping Cream, and Anchor Extra Yield Cooking Cream. 


.: Peace Out :.

Comments

  1. We had one here before, went for free cooking classes on weekends, upon invitation...but closed down already, poor management. Heard it was because they picked the wrong people to run the place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ohhh... I didn't know that they have one in Sibu. Hopefully there will be more free cooking classes from others :)

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  3. There are certainly a lot of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to bring up. I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your job is clearly identified as a fair game. Both boys and girls feel the impact of just a moment?s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.
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