The Young Chef India Schools 2013 finals in London spelt food and fun

A pinch of salt, a spoon of sugar and you could be on your way to London!

The IIHM Young Chef India Schools 2014, in association with t2 and supported by the ministry of tourism, is back and this time it promises to be bigger and better.

Compared to last year, the numbers have doubled. From Calcutta and the east, around 250-300 schools are expected to participate, and from across India, around 3,000 schools. The prelims have begun and the grand finale will be at the University of West London, on October 18.

One of the main reasons for the increase in numbers is awareness in schools that culinary arts can bring home the bacon. “Culinary as a career has grown. For example, IIHM (Calcutta) has 450 students in the first year compared to 280 last year. The downslide in certain traditional careers like engineering and IT because of lack of jobs has led to an increase in sunrise industries like hospitality, banking and media,” said Suborno Bose, chairman & chief mentor, Indismart Group Worldwide. “With new and upcoming hotels in the city (The Gateway Hotel, Novotel, JW Marriott, ITC Sonar 2 and The Park on the Bypass) and outside (Aerocity in Delhi will house a bunch of luxury hotels), it’s boom time for hospitality,” added Bose.

All was not as smooth as butter a few years ago. “Initially, it was a tough job to even convince schools to take part. In 2011, the first edition of Young Chef, there was little interest and schools were reluctant to send students, especially boys’ schools,” said Shaun Kenworthy, chef and one of the judges of the competition. All that has changed now with MasterChef US, Australia, India… (the list goes on!) ruling the small screen. “It’s about exposure. You switch on the TV any time of the day and there’ll be some cooking on. Some of these kids even have their favourite chefs and their favourite dishes. A far cry from when I first came to India from London 14 years ago and introduced myself as a chef, and people would say, ‘I have a cook at home!’” added Shaun.

So if you’re a smart cookie studying in Class XI/XII and enjoy cooking, can be as cool as a cucumber under pressure, like to spice up things and want your piece of cake — here’s the what and how of IIHM Young Chef India Schools 2014:

IN A NUTSHELL

The Format: There are four stages — the city heats, regional semi-final, regional final and London finale. The preliminary round of the competition is on, followed by the regional finals later this month in Calcutta, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Goa. The grand finale between the chosen regional finalists is scheduled for October 18, on the campus of the University of West London, in the UK.

The Judges: Over 200 veteran chefs from India and the UK will be a part of the competition and selection process. At the finale in London on September 17 last year, on the panel of judges and special guests were Atul Kochhar, the first Indian chef to get a Michelin star, Cyrus Todiwala, chef and TV food presenter, Andy Varma, Calcutta boy and owner of London’s Chakra restaurant, Lord Karan Bilimoria, the owner of Cobra beer, t2 columnist Shaun Kenworthy and chef Sanjay Kak from IIHM.

The Winner Last Year: Modern High School’s Simran Kapur was crowned the YC winner at the University of West London and took home a cheque of Rs 5 lakh.

How can you participate? The competition is open to Class XI and XII students. If your school is not participating and you wish to apply, you can apply individually with a no-objection certificate from your school. Log on to www.youngchefindia.com for more details.