Category: World

What is healthy snacking?

Post author By Anand
Post date February 21, 2016

Having first appeared in the United States around ten years ago with the emergence of soup bars, the healthy eating trend quickly went global in the fast-food and nomad catering segment.

Eat fast, but well: brands are constantly seeking to innovate in order to meet consumer expectations. Snacking departments now offer ready-to-eat portions of fruit and vegetables, yoghurts that are high in protein and low in fats, products with low salt and sugar contents, a range of delicious and healthy snacks (like Soyjoy bars, or soy flour-based bars straight from Japan)…

Chefs have understood that healthy snacking is going to be a feature of tomorrow's catering trends. Ferran Adrià was one of the first to follow this trend with the launch of his Fast Good concept (the first of which opened in Madrid, Spain, in 2004). This example was followed closely in France, in particular by Paul Bocuse, who opened several fast-food outlets in Lyon and its surrounding region (i.e. Ouest Express), the Ferniot brothers, who opened Boco, and the Bras brothers who represent the “fast-good” concept in Toulouse and Millau (France) with their outlet, Capucin. Like the Australian chef, Curtis Stone (www.curtisstone.com), the English chef Jamie Oliver shares recipes for tasty, balanced snacks on his website, jamieoliver.com: kale chips with salt and cinnamon, spicy flapjacks (oatmeal cereal bars found in the UK), low-fat hummus, beef empanadas, and much more… In short, the future looks bright for this trend, as witnessed by the success of the #healthy hashtag on Instagram.

This article was brought to you by the gentle souls at Elle&Vire Professional. Visit them here.

News World

High Tea Revolutionized

Post author By Anand
Post date February 20, 2016

Dilmah, innovators in the tea industry revolutionized the age old Real High Tea and brought it back into focus of the culinary world. Basically the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge (http://realhightea.dilmahtea.com/) stirred up the world of tea and its smooth transition into the world of culinary adventures. The world was once again reminded of the versatility of tea, a brew without parallel from its flavor, taste and fragrance; it enhances food to an amazing level of sophistication that was highlighted during the Real High Tea Challenge.

In a world that expects instant gratification, the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge reminded people to take time to appreciate the finer, yet simple things in life. It helped bring about the rebirth of the afternoon tea, this time coupled with fine gastronomy and mixology. It proved to be the perfect medium to express the natural goodness of tea in a contemporary setting.

The Challenge was a great success with 710 contestants forming 355 teams from 14 countries across the globe. It saw the birth of 1420 tea inspired beverages, as well as inspiring renowned chefs to truly showcase their creative genius, as the Dilmah tea revolution traveled around the world, from continent to continent, shore to shore, transforming tea. It exposed the globe to the possibility of a whole new world of tea as free spirited thinkers and epicurean artisans put the tea back into high tea.

The Real High Tea challenge brought about a renaissance of tea, which is guaranteed to have a lasting impact as people once again take time to appreciate the finer things in life. Dilmah takes pride in having put the tea back into the limelight and bringing back to the modern generation the joy of afternoon tea!

News World

Benoit Violier, 44, “best Chef in the World” since december, dies.

Post author By Anand
Post date February 3, 2016

Chef Benoit Violier, whose Swiss restaurant was named the best in the world in December, has been found dead at his home.

Mr Violier, 44, ran the Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville in Crissier, near the city of Lausanne.

It earned three Michelin stars and came top in France's La Liste ranking of the world's 1,000 best eateries.

Swiss police said Mr Violier, who was born in France, appeared to have shot himself.

Philippe Rochat, his mentor and predecessor at the Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville, fell ill while cycling a few months ago.

Friends and colleagues said Violier may have been affected by the sudden death six months ago of said, whom he succeeded at Crissier.

Having worked at the restaurant since 1996, Mr Violier took it over along with his wife Brigitte in 2012, later obtaining Swiss nationality. The couple has a 12 year old son.

A keen hunter, he was known for signature dishes including game and produced a weighty book on game meat last year. The restaurant's menus ranged from a quick lunch menu at 195 Swiss francs ($191; £134) to a “discovery” set menu priced at 380 Swiss francs.

According to a biography on his website, Mr Violier grew up in a family of seven children in the town of Saintes, in western France. His passion for gastronomy was inspired by his mother from a young age, while he learned about wine, cognac and hunting from his father.

He moved to Paris in 1991, training with top French chefs including Joel Robuchon and Benoit Guichard.

He said his time there taught him “rigour, discipline and the art of the beautiful gesture”.

In an indication of the standards he held himself to, he said: “Nothing is ever definitive, everything must be repeated every day.”

Athough a very talented and exceptional chef he showed disdain for the star system he was a part of.

Such was his disdain for the star system around which the world of haute cuisine revolves, that he made little play of his victories on his restaurant's website. “The starification of our profession has gone too far,” he told Liberation.

Violier had also spoken in previous interviews about the pressure to maintain standards in restaurants.

Just two days after his death his wife found the strenght to re-open the restaurant and the Michelin-starred Switzerland restaurant is up and running again at the urging of Violier's wife.

Two days after his untimely death by apparent suicide, chef Benoît Violier's Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville Crissier reopened, according to Agence France-Presse. Brigitte Violier ran the restaurant with her husband for nearly four years, and it earned the highest possible Michelin star rating.

Mrs. Violier reportedly gathered the restaurant's staff on Monday with a message of “the show must go on,” and invited guests who had made reservations in advance to honor them.

News World

Young Chefs Development Committee welcomes three new Committee Members

Post author By Anand
Post date February 2, 2016

The Young Chefs Development Committee it thrilled to announce Three highly motivated and dedicated professional Chefs to join the Senior Committee.

They are:

Sarah Kymbrekos

Sarah is the founder and president of the Vanuatu Chefs and Food Handlers Association and passionate culinarian and advocate for YoungChefs in Vanuatu.

Sarah's experience in he pacific will be invaluable to the YCDT as we hope to expand across the Pacific and in New Zealand where our Continental Director Murray Dick is supporting the region from.

“The YoungChefs Club in Vanuatu is growing and learning everyday to train and network together and make a better industry for Youngchefs across the island, we are very proud of theworkshops and effort the Young Chefs are making here.”

Rosalyn Ediger

Rosalyn joins us from Canada and we are thrilled to have her join our team.

We asked Rosalyn a fre questions, Joining the YCDT Committee, what would be your 3 objectives to achieve?

1. Arrange for more young Canadian chefs to go abroad for training, international competitions or employment (in regulated co-operational programs) and let them experience the positive influences for themselves.

2.Develop a mentoring program for young female chefs to gain confidence and to empower themselves to aim for the same positions as their male counterparts.

3.Increase awareness toward the benefits of culinary diplomacy, not only to young chefs but to people who are not in the hospitality industry.

We cannot wait to get started with working with Rosalyn.

Shane Li

Shane Li from the Peoples Republic of China is a Master degree holder and Lecturer at the Shanghai institute of Tourism.

Shane is a well known figure to the YoungChefs of Shanghai and he has many years of experience working with the Youngchefs in China as besides being a hospitality lecturer he is also a WACS Culinary Judge.

Moving forward Shane hold the post of Ambassador Mentor for China will focus on building Youngchefs across China,,,, a big task but he is the man for the job.

On Behalf of our Chairman Andy Cuthbert we welcome all three new committee members and wish them every success in continuing to build YoungChefs across the world.

News World

Welcoming our new colleague, Joachim

Post author By Anand
Post date January 30, 2016

As our organisation is growing we are welcoming new additions to our team in order to better suit Worldchefs needs.

So we are welcoming Joachim, our new communication intern, who will be helping us with website and much more.

He will be replacing Pierre who has left us. Joachim will be with us for 13 months as a part of a highly professionalising internship to achieve a masters in web project management, spending 3 weeks at the office and 1week at his university each month.

He already has a bachelor in Business and has previously worked as an Assistant Manager in HR on his home island of Saint Martin.

Welcome Joachim!

News World

Gilles Renusson visits Athens for a Judging Seminar

Post author By Anand
Post date January 27, 2016

by Gilles Renusson

Over the last few years I have had the pleasure of presenting this pastry judging seminar in Edmonton, Bern, Stockholm, Rome, Rostov on Don, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and just two weeks ago in Athens. These seminars have contributed greatly to a better understanding of what are the judging criteria of Worldchefs endorsed competitions.

This seminar was held on Wednesday December 16th in the office of Athens’ Chef Club. The presentation room was ideally located adjacent to the open kitchen. This association has a perfect training facility, spacious, well equipped, and easy to access. A dozen chefs attended the seminar. The seven hours presentation was followed by a long ideation session. We started at 8:00 a.m. and left the office of Chef Club at 10:00 p.m. I had recently updated the petits-fours, plated desserts, centerpieces, and restaurant dessert power points with pictures of recent competitions. This continuous process requires selecting, editing and inserting pictures gathered around the world. It is time consuming but this frequent updating lends even more credibility to the program. The day was not all work and monotonous. I had the unique opportunity to ride through the streets of Athens on the back of Chef Christos Amantos’ scooter. What a ride! Well done Chef Christos, we made it back without a scratch.

The next day Chef picked me up early to visit the market. Anytime I travel abroad I always try to visit the local food market. It was absolutely marvelous. Chef Panos Kokkinidis took precious time during the busy period of the holiday season to guide me through some of Athens most interesting specialty stores and hotel pastry shops. I can’t wait to show these pictures to my students at Grand Rapids Community in Michigan.

Chef Miltos Karoumpas, President of the Hellenic Chef Association (and initiator of the 2016 WACS Congress), and Mrs. Elena Reppa, Team Manager of the Greek National Culinary Team, invited me for dinner. It was organized at Chef Eva Vonazounta’s restaurant. Chef Eva’s English was so prefect that I ventured to ask her where she had learned to master this language? “I was born in America” she replied…This was the best meal of my trip. Thank-you Chef Eva for such a display of fresh, tasty, and expertly seasoned authentic Greek food.

Chef Panos Kikkinidis picked me up at the hotel on Friday morning to take me to the airport. On the way we visited his pastry shop.

Thank-you to the Hellenic Chef’s Association for organizing this seminar. Your member’s hospitality was remarkable. I made new friends and will keep in touch with you. I always enjoy sharing my competition experiences with colleagues anywhere in the world and look forward to the next opportunity to do so.

May 2016 bring to you and your family, good health, peace, many happy moments with family and friends, and success in Worldchefs endorsed pastry competitions.

News World

Chefs Association of Pakistan launches its own National Culinary Team

Post author By Anand
Post date January 26, 2016

The Chefs’ Association of Pakistan (CAP), member of World Association of Chefs Societies (Worldchefs) along with its strategic partner the College of Tourism & Hotel Management (COTHM) launched the country’s first National Culinary Team of Pakistan on 5th January 2016. Provincial Minister for Education, Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan was the chief guest at the prestigious ceremony held at COTHM-Lahore Main Campus.

Senior journalist Mujeebur Rehman Shami also attended the ceremony as the Guest of Honour. A large number of professionals from the country’s chef-community and hospitality industry were also present at the occasion.

Addressing the audience, Mr. Rana Mashood Ahmed Khan congratulated the CAP, COTHM, chefs’ fraternity and the hospitality industry of Pakistan at the historic event. He said, “The presence of Pakistani cuisine and Pakistani chefs at international culinary forums, events and competitions was always badly missed. Now with the evolution of this culinary team, the country will get recognition in this arena too.”

He said that a team of girl and boy students having expertise in preparation of Pakistani foods will raise the Pakistani flag high in international competitions, launched from the platform of College of Tourism and Hotel Management. He also announced that preparations have been completed for holding national food championship in Pakistan next year.

The minister said, “The engagement of youth in positive activities is the need of the hour. I am sure that Pakistan’s talented youth will make the country proud through their performance on this platform.” He appreciated CAP and COTHM’s single-handed efforts in realizing the need and taking up this initiative to raise a national culinary team to represent the country globally. Counting COTHM as the best hotel school of Pakistan, he said, “COTHM’s contribution in the HR development of the country through skill-based education and training programs is outstanding. This institute has earned good name for Pakistan,” he added.

Addressing the audience, Mr. Waqar Ilyas Khan, Corporate Vice President, CAP said, “The development of National Culinary Team of Pakistan comprising the country’s best chefs is a landmark achievement made under the banner of the CAP. Now the world will come to know how amazing and skillful Pakistani cuisine and Pakistani chefs are.” He added, “The Team will represent Pakistan in the international culinary competitions around the world and thus foster goodwill and soft image of our country internationally.” Mr. Ahmad Shafiq, Secretary General CAP also spoke on the occasion. He said, “Despite the fact that our cuisine offers a unique experience, it has never been introduced and promoted internationally as a distinctive food which has its own identity. It has rather mistakenly been identified as Indian cuisine in most parts of the world. To create a separate identity of Pakistani cuisine, the National Culinary Team of Pakistan has been created.”

Further explaining the objectives of this initiative, Mr. Shafiq said, “Representation and promotion of Pakistani cuisine will be pursued to let the world acknowledge its separate identity, to get our chefs international recognition and prestige, and be made a part of the international forums and organisations which deal in culinary arts, dining establishments and other related fields.”

Concluding the launching ceremony, Chef Muhammad Zubair, Patron-in-Chief of CAP extended the vote of thanks. He thanked the chief guest and others for taking out time from their hectic schedules to grace the occasion. He also thanked the chefs’ fraternity and hospitality industry of Pakistan for making invaluable contributions to the field in their respective capacities.

Culinary competitions are held regularly around the year in various countries. Hundreds of teams participate in these competitions. The National Culinary Team of Pakistan will participate in international culinary competitions around the globe and will play a vital role in promoting the soft image of Pakistan internationally. Representation at international forums through such ventures will reinforce our identity as proud people of substance. The world will come to know about our rich food, language, culture and heritage. Business and employment opportunities for our people will multiply internationally and above all, we will be able to create a soft image of our country across the world. Keeping in line with its objectives, the 11-member team, in its first competition, is going to represent Pakistan officially in culinary competitions to be held in Turkey in February 2016. The team members are: Mohammad Raees, Mukesh Khaimiji, Ali Abbas, Shumaila Zafar, Abdul Manan, Falak Gohar, Jahangir Hussain, Mohsin Randhawa, Zahra Ibrahim, Mohammad Razzak and Rizwan ul Haq.

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News World

VanDrie Group provides tempting veal breakfast at International Green Week Berlin

Post author By Anand
Post date January 19, 2016

Berlin, 15 January 2016 – The tour made by government ministers at the kick-off to International Green Week Berlin (IGW) has become something of a tradition. Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture Christian Schmidt and the Dutch State Secretary of Economic Affairs Martijn van Dam visited several stands at the exhibition, which is currently open in Berlin. At the stand belonging to the VanDrie Group, the global market leader for veal, a varied breakfast was on offer: the ministers sampled miniature veal schnitzels, burgers and wraps.

Dutch head chef Edgar Buhrs prepared the delicious mini veal dishes on site. Visitors to the exhibition were also able to enjoy the fresh delicacies once the ministers had completed their tour. With his trio of schnitzel, burger and wrap, the head chef demonstrated the versatility of veal. This delicious product has several benefits that win people over: it is wonderfully tender, low in calories and is easy to digest. As a result, it is just as suitable for use in traditional dishes as it is in trendy dishes or healthy snacks.

Sharing with the experts

If you are on the lookout for inspiration, tips and information on the subject of veal, you can contact Edgar Buhrs at any time during the exhibition. The head chef enjoys talking with interested individuals at the VanDrie Group’s stand and answers questions or provides creative ideas for the numerous ways of preparing veal. “This delicious meat simply works every time,” enthuses the professional chef. “And the Safety Guard logo guarantees first-class product quality.”

Communication campaign continues in 2016

This year, the VanDrie Group’s will again be continuing its widespread campaign on the subject of veal. The campaign strongly promotes its numerous online activities which, on the one hand, inform people about the quality of veal, and on the other, inspire with delicious recipe ideas that whet the appetite. The company’s new YouTube channel Kochen mit kalbfleisch stands out in particular. Here, consumers receive important tips and are able to see exactly how different cuts of veal are prepared. What’s more, on the German website www.kalbfleisch.info, there are numerous recipe ideas and product information to discover. On the Facebook page Kochen mit kalbfleisch, fans are also provided with delicious dishes, as well as being able to contact the company.

Safety Guard ensures transparency

The VanDrie Group is the leading global manufacturer of veal. Virtually all members of the supply chain are integrated into the company's family – from farmers to processors. The company itself has placed high demands on sustainability, safety and health, which are being stringently met in the chain as a whole. All products and production steps within the VanDrie Group are therefore subject to the “Safety Guard” quality assurance system, which guarantees that the fulfilment of all specifications concerning nutritional safety and animal welfare is completely traceable. The customers are happy with this degree of transparency within the VanDrie Group. They know that they are able to rely on the quality of veal bearing the “Safety Guard” logo.

News World

A chef recounts – Abu Dhabi, Global Chefs Challenge Semi Final and the SIAL 2015

Post author By Anand
Post date January 14, 2016

By Chef David Thomas

The Namibian Chef Association had the unique opportunity to send 2 chefs, David Thomas and Jo-Andri Pretorius, accompanied by our president, Sanet Prinsloo, to participate in the World Association of Chefs Societies (Worldchefs) Global Chefs Challenge Semi-Final and Hans Bueschken Junior Chefs Challenge Semi-Final for Africa and Middle East. The Namibian team was escorted by chef Gregory Vissouarn, on visit directly from France, who used his visit to Namibia by helping and coaching the Namibian team.

The above mentioned semifinals concurred with the SIAL Middle East 2015. The SIAL is a gigantic food show, filled with stands from international suppliers and bringing serious professional culinary entertainments during its 3 days. New products, new trends, a display of fantastic halal products with Suppliers coming from Marocco, France, Cyprus, China, and many others countries.

More than 420 chefs competed during the food shows, from bread and baking competitions, beef, lamb or fish cook-off's, ice carving, vegetable sculpture, fine dining buffet display, tapas, sugar work masterpiece and mouthwatering pastry creations. It was simply unbelievable to see so many young professionals competing, showcasing their skills and passion for the food industry. The food show was organized by the Emirates Culinary Guild in partnership with the local food authorities.

Yet our 2 Namibian chefs were primarily there to compete in the Global Chef Challenge semifinals. What an amazing set up: 16 stations / kitchens, full with equipment we Namibians dream of. A panel of more than 20 international acclaimed judges coming from Canada, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar and of course Namibia as our president Sanet was part of the team of judges.

Chefs David and Junior Chef Jo-Andri were respectively competing in the Global Chefs Challenge for the seniors and in the Hans Bueschkens competition for the junior chefs. It's an intense competition, allowing 3 hours to build up a menu for 4 or 6 people, including a starter, with Norwegian salmon, Norwegian white halibut, scallops and Wasabi, a main course using Dutch veal, with veal loin, veal blade and veal sweetbread, and a dessert, using dark chocolate from Valrhona and a selection of exquisite teas coming from Dilmah tea in Sri Lanka.

What a pleasure for connoisseurs with state of the art raw products offering an infinite palate of creativity.

Yet first came the mission for our Namibian chefs to practice and train before the competition, mostly due to the unavailability of such products on the Namibian market. Practice sessions at home necessitated making plans and creating magic with the use of kingklip, game meat, beef fillet or even rib eye steak. This prepared them to proudly represent Namibian cuisine on the international scene with the correct ingredients with two beautiful, slightly technical and tasty menus for the two competitions.

Our chefs competed against countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Mauritius, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar. A hand full of professional and sharpened chefs, ready to showcase the best food in Africa and Middle East.

In the senior category, Chef David Thomas had a few technical issues, from a fight with equipment to a fall in the kitchen, the stress of the competition won and the victory and the seat for the world final went to the local chef from Dubai.

The Hans Bueschkens Junior Chefs Competition was mastered well by Junior Chef Jo-Andri Pretorius securing a silver medal to be brought back home while the young chef from Dubai took the gold. Due to a great combination of hard work and coaching that showed during the competition, she was awarded a wild card to attend and compete during the world final of the Global Chefs Challenge, in Greece in September 2016! It will be the first Time for Namibia to compete on such a level!

This will be a huge achievement and a unique opportunity to go, learn and showcase our skills and culinary talents amongst Chefs coming from countries from all around the world.

The competition ended up with a beautiful gala dinner and price giving ceremony at the Shangri La Hotel in Abu Dhabi, with the chefs from the UAE taking the trophies in the senior, junior and pastry competitions..

We are looking forward to the next challenge, and our team will start working on it soon. A little bit more than nine months to plan and prepare ourselves the best we can. During our stay in Abu Dhabi, we had time to see some of the highlights of the town. From ultra luxury hotels to huge buildings, state of the art modern architecture mixed with a strong Arabic influence was what we saw in the bit of free time.

The busy local life, all day long, between traditional shops, the local fish market, offering a breathtaking selection of fresh fish from all around the Emirates, the harbour with the traditional fishing vessels or simply walking around, looking toward the sky to see the limit of the roof tops, while making sure not to be driven over by any kind of fancy luxury cars.

Our culinary escape to Abu Dhabi was really special. Far away from Namibia, in a modern and competitive environment, challenging us with a quick immersion into an intense and busy hospitality industry where quality, high end standards, professionalism, elegance and magic gave us a unique insight on what the future of the food industry should be looking like.

This left us with a proper reality check upon the considerable amount of work we have to do in Namibia, pushing our involvement and commitment with the Namibian Chefs Association in bringing chefs together and working toward opening doors in the future for Namibians to experience what we saw during our stay in Abu Dhabi. As-salamu alaykum.

News World

Elle & Vire Professionnel training with Jordi Bordas

Post author By Anand
Post date December 22, 2015

Elle & Vire Professionnel organized in partnership with Jordi Bordas, World Pastry Champion 2011 a training on Elle & Vire Professionnel products.

The chef welcomed 15 chefs in his school in Viladecans (Spain) for a training during which the chefs were able to learn more on Elle & Vire Professionnel products and discover some of the brand’s latest innovations such as Sublime, Cream with Mascarpone. Composed of 70 % of Excellence Whipping Cream 35.1% fat and of 30% of mascarpone, it has a great hold in decorations and offers a rich taste and a smooth texture. Jordi Bordas prepared desserts such as a cheesecake or a kouglof so the products could be seen in actions in order to show the chefs the possibilities offered by Elle & Vire Professionnel products.

Jordi Boras also invited for the training Lluis Costa, pastry chef at Vallflorida Xocolaters and winner of the Best Croissant of Spain award 2015 who shared with the chefs his secrets for a perfect croissant and his tips to use quality products at their best.

Follow Elle & Vire Professionnel latest news on https://pro.elle-et-vire.com/en/

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