Kokomo’s Mua leads cooking competition
The final round of the Master Chef Fiji 2017 is anyone’s call following the close score lines of the chefs and hospitality professionals in the second last round of competition at the Sheraton Fiji Resort on Thursday. Kokomo Island Resort chef Cajetina Mua is on the lead with 441 to push up her points to 1310.
She is followed by AustraliaPacific Technical College (APTC) chef Alisi Delai on 1291 points. The Master Chef Fiji 2017 winner gets a three month scholarship at the Le Cordon Bleu in Seoul, Korea including return air fares and accommodation.
“All competitors’ scores are very close to each other, anything can happen and anyone can still win the 2017 Master Class Fiji scholarship ,” event co-ordinator Valentin C or chad os aid.
“This is an opportunity for female chefs to promote the tradeand encourage other women chefs to get back into the business because they have skills and expertise in the kitchen,” he said.
South Sea Cruises executive chef Lance Seeto said the support from well known chefs in the country has been a morale booster to the women participating in the competition.
“Having all the chefs in Fiji supporting this project all year has been a big plus and we can see the benefit,” Mr Seeto said.
“Females have an extra feeling and skill in the kitchen if we can transfer those skills into a professional kitchen we can only increase the skill level in the kitchen,” he said. “Whether they win or not they will be able to walk away from this programme learning and knowing more about cooking which they were not able to learn in schools.”
APTC master chef patisserieAmanda Young will be showcasing creativity in patisserie and pastry.
The other guest judges are executive chef Sheraton Fiji Resort Prabhat Kumar Prawin, V Restaurant Sofitel chef de cuisine Avinesh Sharma, nutritionist Vegan and Food Cat Adora and Adi Chocolate owner Tomohito Zuroshi. Competition starts at 2pm. The winner will be announced during the HOTEC cocktail soon after the final round.