Fiji’s Top Cooking Competition Supported by Fiji Gas
Fiji Gas and its partner Moffat, the Australian kitchen equipment manufacturers are sponsoring the Salon Culinaire 2015 competition. This is part of the Hotec 2015 exhibition which takes place at the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa from the 25th to the 27th November.
The Salon Culinaire is the premier cooking competition in Fiji. This year over 300 chefs will be competing in one or more of the 25 separate competitions. As well as the category competitions the judges will also be deciding on the Chef of the Year, the Junior Chef of the Year and the Pastry Chef of the Year.
In 2014 the winner did not have to travel far to compete. Abinesh Sharma is the Chef de Cuisine at the Sofitel’s very own V Restaurant. The Junior Chef of the Year was Rohit Singh from Castaway and the Pastry Chef of the Year was Warren Mave of Jacks Restaurants.
The Salon Culinaire is not just recognized locally in Fiji. Previous winners have gone on to compete overseas. Abinesh Sharma of the Sofitel Resort competed with chefs from Australia and New Zealand to enter the Global Chef Challenge held in Norway.
The Salon Culinaire was resurrected in 2004 when Fiji Gas and Moffat sponsored the event and they continue to do so annually.
At this year’s event Moffat will provide 16 brand new stoves for the competition; the Waldorf 900mm 4 Range Gas Burner Stove model. At the end of the Salon Culinaire the stoves will all be sold at a heavily discounted price by Fiji Gas.
The Salon Culinaire is organized by Shailesh Naidu, the Executive Chef of the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort. He is Fiji’s first and only Fiji-born 5-Star Executive Chef and has won many prestigious competitions and awards both locally and overseas, including winning Fiji’s Chef of the Year Award.
“Although I am the organizer of the Salon Culinaire I also find it a great learning experience. When you have so many chefs together in the same place there are always new recipes and techniques to be learnt. I am grateful to Fiji Gas and Moffat for their continued support. Cooking is stressful, but one thing we won’t worry about is the equipment as we will all be using brand new Moffat stoves, supplied by Fiji Gas.
He continued “The competitors will really have to perform well to impress our judges this year. We have brought in International Judges to complement the local judges.”
Samson Lal, Fiji Gas National Sales and Marketing Manager said “Fiji Gas is very proud to support the Salon Culinaire, and now so for eleven years. Good food is vital to the success of the tourism industry in Fiji. It is great to be associated with an event that raises standards every year. Here at the Salon Culinaire Moffat and Fiji Gas have given the competitors the best equipment and the gas to cook the winning dishes. We do the same for restaurants and homes across the country.”
Fiji Gas first began supplying gas to Fiji in 1956. It has grown into the largest LPG Company in the Pacific islands.