Culinary challenge at Jetwing Blue in Negombo – Food with a twist
Carried on the winds of the reputed Negombo beach, wafting aromas and succulent flavours were in abundance at Jetwing’s Culinary Chef Challenge held at the recently transformed and relaunched Jetwing Blue in Negombo.
Excitement and energy was certainly present, with the open show kitchen being a nerve center of activity as culinary teams from seven Jetwing hotels prepared the evening’s dinner.
The Jetwing Culinary Challenge was first held in 2006. Since then, the Challenge has evolved with time, taking note of trends and expectations in the culinary industry. The current iteration consisted of two competitions, the Culinary Chef Challenge and the Culinary Challenge itself.
The challenge commenced in the morning, with star class chefs from Jetwing properties around the island participating. One of the unique facts about the event was that all aspects were coordinated by the culinary teams of the hotels. The morning session was the Jetwing Culinary Chef Challenge, which ably demonstrated the candidates’ cooking styles and philosophy through all aspects of the menu. Chef Rohan Fernandopulle, Executive Chef of Hilton Colombo demonstrated the preparation of a signature dish, after which the candidates had a few hours to recreate the same dish for the elite panel of judges. The objective of the challenge is to gauge the contestant’s ability to react to changes in the menu at any given time. This will enable them to prepare dishes that are suggested by the guests from time to time who visit the kitchen as many guests visit the kitchen and suggest dishes to be prepared. The chef thus needs to be able to figure out what the recipe entails and prepare it accordingly.
According to Chef Rohan, “It was amazing how these young guys reproduced this dish; I had a very hard time as a judge to decide the best one. It was a dish named ‘Two Dancers of a Negombo Sea’, the name coming from two of the main ingredients, a lobster and a modha fish (barramundi). The candidates gave their 100% in striving to recreate the dish, and they certainly succeeded.” The Culinary Chef Challenge was eventually won by Chef Wasantha Kumara of Jetwing Sea.
Bringing the morning session to an end was the team challenge with two nominees from each hotel. This is where things started to heat up, as each team selected both a work station and a black box containing ingredients, for which each ingredient had to be made use of to some extent. With a varied selection of ingredients, teams were given time to compile and submit a five course menu for the evening dinner. Setting a feverish pace, the contestants raced against time to prepare and serve a gastronomical extravaganza.
Deliberately structured in order to simulate the need for high speed yet quality food delivery, the dinner was the high point for all the invitees, with many commenting on the difficult choice faced by the judges in selecting a winner!
Once all the plates were cleared, glasses emptied and pots of coffee and tea consumed, guests settled back with satisfied stomachs to witness the crowning of the winning team of the Culinary Challenge. Seven teams competed against each other, and at the end of the day Jetwing Blue took home the trophy due to the efforts of Chef Daya Wickramasinghe, and Chef Kumudu Waruna de Silva. The team won thanks to an excellent menu compilation and preparation, for which the main course consisted of a succulent herb-crusted rack of lamb slow roasted along with accompaniments, and a lip smacking dessert of a chocolate and strawberry cheese mousse tower and warm banana cream pudding.
Speaking at the event, Hiran Cooray, Chairman of Jetwing had the following to say: “I am especially proud of the initiative shown by our chefs, and their talent and potential is unsurpassed. Gastronomy has always been a part of Jetwing, as we certainly feel that good food is an important part of not only a resort chain, but a part of our culture as Sri Lankans as well.”
Source: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=30789
