India to host contestants from 60 countries at the 6th International Young Chef Olympiad

New Delhi, December 20, 2019: The world’s biggest Olympiad for culinary students – the International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) – is back to celebrate the multicultural diversity of food from across the borders. The sixth edition of the event will be held across five cities of India – Delhi, Pune, Goa, Bengaluru and Kolkata – from 28th January 2020 to 2nd February 2020. YCO 2020 will witness participation of student chefs from 60 countries, including Scotland, England, Singapore, USA, Spain, Portugal, Kenya, Iran, Cambodia and Germany, among others. Adopting the theme of ‘Sustainability’, this year the competition will be uniting the young talent of the culinary world to champion the sustainability revolution through positive action.

During a 5-day long intense competition, which is being organized by the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) in partnership with the International Hospitality Council London, the contestants will undertake 3 rounds of culinary challenges in their quest to win the coveted YCO 2020 Champion Trophy, a cash prize of USD 10,000 and a validation of their skills by globally renowned experts from the food and hospitality industry.

Talking about YCO 2020, Dr Suborno Bose, the CEO of International Hospitality Council (IHC) and Founder YCO, said, “With 60 countries coming together under one roof to celebrate the diversity of food from across the borders, YCO 2020 is not just the biggest culinary competition in the world but also a global platform fostering the spirit of youth, friendship, inclusiveness and camaraderie. Moreover, by making sustainability as the theme for this year, we are championing the cause with the involvement of young people who will help determine and shape the future through a global impact.”

YCO 2020 will be inaugurated on 28th January with a grand opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The competition rounds will start from 29th January and the first two rounds will be held in Delhi, Pune, Goa and Bengaluru. The top 10 contestants as per the scores of the two rounds will compete in the Grand Finale of YCO 2020 in Kolkata on 2nd February. The Plate Trophy, which was

introduced last year, will be held on 2nd February wherein the contestants holding positions 11 to 20 in the first two rounds will compete. The Olympiad will conclude on 2nd February with a closing ceremony, where the YCO 2020 Champion, runners-up and other awardees will be announced. This year the participants will be competing for a total of 25 competitor awards, including ‘Rising Star’, ‘Best Vegetarian Dish’, ‘Best Dessert’, ‘Best Hygienic Practice’, ‘Best Ambassador’, ‘Sustainability Award’, ‘Mentor’s Nominee’, ‘Kitchen Cut Award’ and ‘IHC Foundation Hospitality PR Champion’.

In the competition’s first round, the contestants will be required to prepare 4 portions of a boned chicken dish with accompanying garnish in one and half hours. The contestants will be judged on their basic skills, innovation and creativity in this round. In round 2, the contestants will be required to prepare a vegetarian dish suitable for a lunch menu in a Bistro or Brasserie and Pear Flan Bourdaloue (Almond and Pear Flan) served with a basic custard saucefrom a basket of ingredients and based on their own recipes. The primary judging criteria for this round will be the cooking technique, along with portioning, presentation, colour and finish of the dishes.

The Grand Finale and Plate Trophy Finals of YCO 2020 will test the contestant’s creativity, innovation, cooking skills and professional good practice in a time bound environment. For both the finals, the contestants will be given 2 hours to prepare 4 portions of a vegetarian starter and 4 portions of a King Tiger Prawn main course dish from the same basket of ingredients. Both dishes have to be prepared and served as appropriate in a Brasserie Restaurant environment. However, contestants in the Grand Finale will also be provided with a secret ingredient. The Grand Finalists will have to set out the health benefits of this secret ingredient on paper and present to the Judges prior to the commencement of the Grand Finale.

Padma Shri Chef Sanjeev Kapoor will be the Principal Judge and Mentor for YCO 2020 while Prof David Foskett (MBE) will be the Chairman of the Jury. The panel of judges will include internationally acclaimed judges and celebrity chef judges including Chief Judge Chef Brian Turner, who is also the President of the Royal Academy of Culinary and Deputy Chief Judge Chef Andreas Muller from Hong Kong. Other judges in the panel will include Chef Chris Galvin (UK), Chef John Wood (UK), Chef Stuart Littlejohn (UK), Chef Henri Borsi (UK), Chef Andy Varma (UK), Chef Stefan Hogan (Malta), Chef Garth Stroebel (South Africa), Chef Enzo Oliveri(Italy), Chef Ranveer Brar (India), Chef Parvinder Bali (India), Chef Abhijit Saha (India) and many more. The judges will evaluate thecontestants not only on their culinary skills but also on their ability to efficiently manage a food production area keeping in mind factors like health and safety, good hygiene practice, ability to follow a recipe, culinary skills, creativity, etc.

Talking about YCO, Prof. David Foskett (MBE), Chair of the International Hospitality Council and YCO 2020, said, “The sixth edition of the YCO is going to be yet another great competition. We must bear in mind that it is not just a competition but also a festival celebrating the young people studying culinary arts from across the world irrespective of race, colour, religion and culture. We are very much looking forward to seeing you all in this grand celebration of food.”

Showcasing the multicultural culinary diversity of different countries, YCO 2020 will also bring together the student chefs and chef mentors for the “United World of Young Chefs”. This event will provide a great opportunity for the 60 participating countries to present their national cuisine to a global culinary audience at the Hyatt Regency in Kolkata on 31st January 2020.

Launched in the year 2015, YCO aims to give young student chefs from around the world a platform to showcase their skills and compete at the global level. Through the last five editions of the Olympiad, the world has seen culinary stars been born and dreams been celebrated on the global culinary stage.The winners of the past editions of YCO were Ashwin Nicholas Oon from Malaysia (2015), Daniella Germond from Canada (2016), ThamJiajun Mathew from Singapore (2017), Lai Jia Yi from Malaysia (2018) and Cyrene Randrianasolo from France (2019).

- YCO 2020 to be held across Delhi, Pune, Goa, Bengaluru & Kolkata from 28th January to 2nd February 2020

- The winner to receive the coveted YCO 2020 Champion Trophy and a cash prize of USD 10,000