THE curtains for R.AGE Food Fight video submissions have just closed and those who managed to slip their entry videos in on time are probably crossing their fingers, hoping to be one of the lucky five finalists.
But before they are pitted against each other in a live cooking demo showdown at the world-class kitchens of Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia, the finalists will be brought together to meet each other and their mentors for a series of master classes on Oct 17 and Oct 25.
Here’s what the mentors had to say ahead of the workshops.
Chef Rodolphe Onno, French master chef
“It is important to speak to the young generation about food so they don’t just know how to cook, but how to eat,” said Onno, who has been in Malaysia for over a year as a technical director at Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia.
“These days there’s a lot of fast food. Nothing wrong with that, but there has to be more than just fast food in our diets.”
Onno is a stickler for cleanliness and organisation in the kitchen, and will be showing the finalists how to keep a perpetually organised kitchen even in the heat of competition.
He will also be fine-tuning the finalists’ recipes.
“When the finalists come with their recipes, I will run through it with them – the workflow, the recipe – and decide with them what to do for the finale. I will give tips on what to do and how to finalise their recipes.”
Chef Darren Chin of DC Restaurant, restaurateur
Darren Chin might well be the Gordon Ramsay of Malaysia with the curt, quick way he speaks and moves in the kitchen.
And like Ramsay, cooking is only part of what he does.He is also the proud owner of DC, a fine-dining establishment in Petaling Jaya.
Chin’s workshop will be themed “A proposal of your dream restaurant”.
During the workshop, finalists will be asked to design a mock up of their ideal restaurant, their unique selling point, the kind of cuisine they intend to serve, target market and ideal location.
Chin will also be speaking on common mistakes most restaurateurs make, and how to manoeuvre about in the industry.
3 Chef Wan, Chef Wan
Malaysian cooking show pioneer, chef, and household name Chef Wan has seen it all.
He’s rubbed a lot of shoulders – and rubbed some the wrong way – but love or hate him, you can’t deny that he’s one of the best at what he does, and he has bags of experience.
He will be showing the finalists what it takes to be a TV chef, which he said requires one to be a comedian, teacher, entertainer, motivator and chef all in one.
“Not everyone will fit the bill immediately, but I understand that you don’t make a star out of someone overnight,” he said.
“You’ve got to give them time to develop confidence, so I will be kind and understanding.”
KY Speaks, food blogger
KY Speaks is one of the most experienced people in the blogging business.
He started out small, mostly blogging to keep a personal journal of great places to eat, before his blog slowly took off.
Now his website gets tens of thousands of hits from countries around the world.
His workshop will be on the blogging scene in Malaysia, how blogs play an important role in F&B businesses, the dos and don’ts, plus how to set up a blog and promote it.
“To build up a sucessful blog, you have to be persistent and stay up to date,” he said. “A large audience is not built overnight.”
Tan Chung Liang, performing artiste and aspiring restaurateur
As a singer, musician, event host and former radio deejay, Liang sure knows what it takes to deliver in front of an audience.
And now as a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, he’ll get to coach the Food Fight finalists on how to keep calm and entertain people – all while whipping up some good food.
“My role is to mentor the finalists every step of the way, from the workshops right up to the finale. I’ll be the ‘big brother’ they can count on for advice anytime,” said Liang.
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