Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites chefs win best culinary awards
KUCHING: A total of 120 culinary enthusiasts and chefs from hotels, restaurants and local culinary schools took part in the 4th World Harvest Festival Culinary Competition 2017 (WHFCC 17) held at Sarawak Cultural Village here recently.
The competition which set high standard of culinary skills was won by a team from Merdeka Palace Hotel and Suites which received a Challenge Trophy as the Overall Best Team.
The team was led by renowned Executive Chef Fadill Hanif who previously represented Malaysia and won medals in the 2004 Culinary Olympic Competition as well as the Culinary World Cup Competition in Luxembourg 2006.
In the individual categories Merdeka Palace won 3 golds – Chef Saiful Hamka won gold in the Plated Appetiser category and Chef Zaidi Bakri won gold in the Plated Main Course. Ramiezie Rapaee won the 3rd gold in the Main Course Meat category.
Four Silver medals were won by Chef Ramzi Yusof in the Plated Dessert category, Chef Farhan Kamal won in the Main Course Fish category, Chef Saiful and Chef Ramzi for Team Pulut Kuning with condiment.
Meanwhile Chef Yii Boon Kiat and Chef Ahmad each won bronze medals. Ristorante Beccari’s Italian Chef Gedang Jetom was fi rst runner-up in the blue ribbon Black Box Culinary Challenge where he prepared a stunning prawn appetiser and a lamb main dish.
Many of the dishes which were showcased can be found in Merdeka Palace Italian Restaurant’s new menu. Since April 2017, Restorante Beccari has refreshed its restaurant menu to offer a selection of dishes that are reasonably priced and are of great quality and taste.
Some of the new menu items include the Slow Smoked Barbequed Beef Back Ribs, Ravioli Pesto ala Genovese, Salad Nicoise with Tuna Maguro and the Trilogia Di Capesante with Scallops.
The judges for this year’s culinary competition comprised members from the Kuching Chefs Association.
As Director of Competition in the Kuching Chefs Association, Chef Fadill noted that this year the Culinary Competition saw a remarkably high standard of cooking skills, taste and food presentation from all the participants.
The WHFCC 17 is an annual event held at the Sarawak Cultural Village to develop young talented chefs throughout Sarawak.