Authentic Indonesian cuisine spices up competitions in UAE
There were 36 final participants with the most senior rank as sous chef from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives and Norway
Let man’s understanding of one another greatly deepen, a more practical way of which is through each country’s cuisine.
And so, the historic “International Indonesian Chefs Challenge 2024” took place in Dubai, parallel to the May 6 to 9 “Arabian Travel Market 2024,” at the Indonesian Consulate General, on May 7 at the International Centre for Culinary Arts, and on May 8 at the Raffles Hotel-wafi Mall.
Attribution, according to Emirates Culinary Guild (Ecg)-public Relations vice president Chef Atim Suryatim from Sumatra Province and with over 27 years of experience worldwide, goes to Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Candra Negara “who approached me two months back for a project he believes would uplift the culinary expertise of the juvenile Indonesian chefs across the UAE, and aligned with the “Indonesia Spice Up the World” gastro-diplomacy national campaign, launched at the Expo2020 Dubai.
The concurrent adviser to the Indonesia UAE Hotelier Community, where more than 350 chefs of the over Indonesian 700 chefs nationwide are members, added: “The consul general called me up a week after because we were already going international. Our Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia Investment Promotion Centre in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the Office of the Finance Attache at the Embassy of Indonesia in Abu Dhabi are supporting.”
There were 36 final participants with the most senior rank as sous chef from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Kyrgistan, Maldives and Norway. They were required to submit their own authentic Indonesian recipes in English alongside fine dining presentations through high resolution photographs. Fourteen semi-finalists demonstrated their creativity and skills from 7 pm to 2 am at the consulate general on April 26.
On May 8 and as the climax of the “Wonderful Indonesia Night,” World Association of Chefs-africa & Middle East director/ecg founder-president Andy Cuthbert announced the following as the top three winners from the top five finalists: Rizka Oktafiani Kusuma Andari, Grosvenor House-dubai chef de partie, Dr Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (Tourism and Creative Economy Minister) Awards for Creativity; Dodik Rio Irawan, Crowne Plaza-abu Dhabi Yas Island junior sous chef, Retno Marsudi (Foreign Affairs Minister) Awards for Authenticity; and Andre Afrizal Ramanda, Andaz Hotel The Palm-dubai chef de partie, Dr Perry Warjiyo (Bank of Indonesia Governor) Awards for Sustainability.
The winners received Dhs5,000 each, they would gift their families.
Aside from Cuthbert and Suryatim, the other jurists were multi-awarded Chef Harald Oberender, Top 50 Middle East Executive Chefs Power List 2023 Idin Asmitha, and honourary judges Nur Asia Uno, Farida Husin Bagis, and Novita Nugraheny-negara. They decided on how the five finalists could turn into a traditional and authentic home-cooked fine dining dish the basic ingredients of purple cauliflower, Thai basil leaves, seabream fillet, and shrimps contained in a “mystery black box” with all the other possible ingredients provided for at a “community pantry,”
Cuthbert who rose from the ranks, starting off as a dishwasher at his cousin’s restaurant in Melbourne and onwards to the Hilton in London, told Gulf Today: “This competition perfectly fits within the ethos of the guild, that is the training and the enhancement of the culinary skills of the young people; the enhancement of cuisines and for this, the Indonesian cuisine. What is really good is that this series highlighted the cultural background of the cuisine; not trying to present it in a new way and not water down the authentic flavours, but enhance it.”
On the mixing of tourism and cuisine, Cuthbert described it as “important” and governments must seriously employ policies and strategies towards this “because together, tourism and cuisine help people understand each country. The international market would exactly know.”
Relating it to his own approach to travel, Cuthbert who learnt how to cook Indonesian and Malaysian fare - the way these should be - from his two Indonesian and one Malaysian colleagues in London, said: “Whenever I travel, I eat at a traditional restaurant; that may be has a lady at the back cooking. As a chef, as a cook, as a traveler, I am going to a village and experience how it really is without watering down. I want to eat the way how food is eaten. That is cool.”