Kremlin Chef to judge culinary fest in Almaty

Kremlin Chef will judge a culinary completion in Almaty, president of the Chefs Association of Kazakhstan Alexandr Tregubenko told Tengrinews. The first international culinary festival will take place on October 28-31. Nearly 100 chefs will participate. There will be teams from Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. According to Tregubenko, the jury includes vice-president of the World Association of Chefs' Societies (WACS), president of the Russian National Guild of Chefs Viktor Belyayev, who has been the Kremlin Chef for 30 years, presidents of Croatian and Romanian Associations of Chefs and many other proponent figures. The cooking festival will include individual and team performances. Besides, juniors who study in culinary colleges and lyceums will participate on October 28. "The main goal of the festival is to promote cooking as a profession. We will have four classes: dishes of mutton, fish, paste and a fitness dish. This is the first time in the contest's history that a fitness dish has been included into the program. Healthy lifestyle, healthy food and light food are very important for people nowadays. There also will be art classes without testing - bread tables, snacks and cakes. Besides, there will be the "Chef of the Year" contest for chefs from Kazakhstan only. The participants will have 90 minutes to cook three courses of their their choice - appetizer, hot dish and dessert. The main requirement is that the hot dish must be made of horse meat," Tregubenko said. The festival will include a Grand-Prix competition where each team will be represented by three members. The participants will not know which ingredients they will get until the very beginning of the competition. After they open the "black box" they will have 110 minutes to come up with a menu and cook it. The president of the Chefs Association of Kazakhstan pointed out that a team of Kazakhstan chefs recently participated in a cooking contest in Turkish Eskisehir and won several medals. According to him, Kazakh national cuisine is highly appreciated abroad. For examples, the horse meat dishes are very popular. "At international contests we are always asked whether we brought horse meat. Both Europeans and Asians are very exсited about it. We once brought kazy (national meal made of horse meat) and treated our guests. That is why the participants of the "Chef of the Year" contest are expected to present new interpretations of horse meat dishes. Originality and creativity are among the selection criteria," Tregubenko said. According to the organizers, the forthcoming culinary duel in Almaty will help find and train new chefs.