‘African Young Chef Competition Will Boost Nigeria’s Economy’
Africans and Nigerians in particular will be given the chance to watch African young chefs from 10 different countries battle live on stage in competition to crown the first ever ‘African Young Chef’. The Founder, the Culinary Academy Nigeria and Presiden
Can you tell us what informed the African Young Chef 2017 competition?
Culinary Academy is a hospitality consulting, lifestyle, recreational, and academic organisation, accredited by the Ministry of Education to provide Diploma in Culinary and Eatery Art and for people who want to become chefs. They do 18 months programme after which we push them into the industry. The institute is basically for people who want to move to next level in their catering skills and for those who want to become caterers and also want to explore their talents in the industry. I am also the Executive Chef of Tarragon Restaurant and also the President of the Culinary Arts Practitioners Association of Nigeria, which is an association of chefs. And so, the Culinary Academy Nigeria is going to be five years old and part of our 5th year celebration is to launch this event, which we are going to hold every year. We are going to have a gathering of young chefs from 10 African countries that are going to come together and have the opportunity to network with colleagues in the industry, to do mentoring sessions and workshops with older chefs in the industry and do a healthy competition amongst themselves. So, the Culinary Academy Nigeria will be giving 10 bright young chefs from different African countries a chance of becoming the African Young Chef 2017. Ten of them will battle it out for one of them to emerge the African Young Chef 2017. The African Young Chef competition is a platform where we would be gathering young African chefs between the ages of 18 and 29 that are Africans.
How do you intend to get participants for this competition?
For this competition, our participants are coming from 10 different African countries. What we did was that we wrote letters to culinary schools and hotels across Africa, telling them about this competition for them to send young chefs they think are bright and that can compete. We also called out for participants on social media platform, www. africanyoungchefs.com, where you can log on to participate but we are actually doing it on the first come first serve basis. Right now we have Gabon, Gambia, Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria. We are hoping to get more because the competition is on May 5, 2017.
What are you looking at during the competition?
On the first day of the competition, which is the 4th of May, all the competitors will converge at the Culinary Academy, where we would hold a welcome party, while they would also get registered and get their kits for the competition. Then on the next day, which is May 5th, the event starts at 10.00am at the Habour Point, Victoria Island, where we would do a flag off where each country comes out to display their nation’s flag. And then the competition starts and they start cooking. Prior to the competition, they would have got the ingredients that they are going to use and also they would have had a chance to try out dishes they are going to put forward. And then the competition starts and when the competition is done, we would have a closing ceremony. And then they would get to display their country’s flags again and then we would pick the first, second and third winner. We would have a jury of three judges made up of celebrated and successful African senior chefs. Nigeria’s radio and television favorite, best known for his works as the host of Big Brother Africa, IK Osakioduwa will host the event, with support from other big names supplying entertainment.
Apparently, this is going to be a huge event having the African continent gathering in Nigeria. Do you have sponsors for it?
Right at this moment, we are speaking to a number of people but right now, it is just our financial muscle pushing it forward. However, we are calling out to people in the food and beverage industry who can identify with this because it is not going to be just an annual event but an event that we would be taking around the continent because our plan is to unite the African continent with something that is a common denominating factor, which is food. So we intend to take it from here to different African countries as an annual event.
What exactly will Africans benefit from this annual event?
Our fundamental objective as a culinary academy is not just to play locally but to play on the global scale. And to fulfill that objective, we have done a couple of things. Now, the Culinary Academy is creating a platform for young up-and-coming chefs to network with colleagues in the industry and engage with senior chefs in mentoring sessions and showcase their art at its best form, for a chance to win prize money, world class equipment and internships with globally renowned leading organisations in the sector. During this event, there is going to be breakout sessions for mentoring, so it is going to be a platform where they can expand their knowledge base and of course the city of Lagos will also benefit from this event in the sense that by the time we have participants from different African countries coming with their mentors, the tourism and hospitality industry will be affected positively in one way or the other. And of course there would be capacity building, there is going to be potential recruiters as there are going to be a number of people from the hotel industry present. I am also calling on banks to come and see what is going on there and who knows, you might discover a young talent there that can actually help your business grow. So it is a platform of learning, capacity building and educational based and of course it is healthy competition, which at the end will bring out the best in all the competitors.
What is your view of the Nigerian food and hospitality industry presently?
Well, with my experience traveling far and wide, Nigerian food and hospitality industry, I would honesty say has grown. It has changed so much from the way it was like 10 years back. A lot of international brands have come into Nigeria in the last 10 years and I think that has also made Nigerians step up their games. People are looking inward to our own ingredients and transforming that and making our foods exportable, which is a good thing. So I will say really, that the hospitality industry has really improved in the last few years and I am very proud of it and it is an industry that I have always wanted to project to the world. So there is always the next big thing to do and the African Young Chef 2017 competition is one of the next big things we are planning to do to ensure that we push this industry further.
What advice do you have for practitioners in the food and hospitality industry, especially the up-and-coming ones?
I will specifically advise the up-and-coming upcoming people on two things which I always tell people. First, educate yourself, learn about what you are doing and arm yourself with knowledge, get educated and understand the industry you are in and that is the only way you can transfer that knowledge to anybody. And then the second thing I always tell people is act, live and work with your senses. Your sense of touch, visual, smell and all of that because that is how we operate. So if you are doing anything, let your senses speak to what you are doing. Even your emotion should be allowed to speak to you, let whatever you do come from your heart, your mind and your brain. Let your senses come together and propel you into doing the right thing.