Taylor’s College cooks up a storm

2009/09/19

AFTER a gruelling four-day battle at Culinaire Malaysia 2009, the team of students and chef lecturers from Taylor’s College, School of Hospitality and Tourism (TCHT) emerged with a haul of five golds, five silvers and 10 bronzes.

The 25-member team competed in 24 challenges.

TCHT defended its championship in the Dream Team Challenge thanks to the efforts of Ammie Khoo, Loke Jia Foong and Ng Shen Ni. Calling themselves The Thrivers, they had to assume the roles of chef, server and bartender respectively, and prepare a “modern-day bistro/trendy” food and beverage experience for three diners within 2½ hours. They impressed the guests and judges not only with a delectable four-course menu and exceptional service at their Charms Bistro but also with their custom-made, stylish uniforms, which they personally designed.

“We’re ecstatic to retain the Dream Team Challenge trophy, which our seniors won in 2007! The entire process was a challenging but priceless learning experience,” says Ng.

In the newly introduced category of Nyonya Heritage Team Challenge, team Cilantro consisted of TCHT chef lecturers Norrizan Ramudin and Souji Gopalakrishna and students Gwee Tze Qian and Lee Lin Yi wowed the judges with a colourful spread of mouth-watering Nyonya dishes to win the gold medal. They created an ambitious menu that included a range of condiments, appetisers, main course and desserts within two hours.

“This victory was certainly a sweet one!” says Norrizan. “We knew that the key element in this challenge was the authenticity of the cuisine so we devoted a lot of time to research and mastering the right techniques in preparing Peranakan food.” In the Pub Challenge — Mocktail Category, students Steven Heng and Lai Yen Ning won a gold medal each for their impressive techniques, skills and knowledge in creating and presenting two non-alcoholic drinks — a popular international mocktail and an original creation. Heng also bagged the coveted Excellence Award Mocktail for accumulating the highest overall points with his winning mocktail Breeze of Orient — a concoction of nutmeg and pineapple juice, and Monin coconut syrup. TCHT programme director Neethiahnanthan Ari Ragavan congratulated the team for its remarkable achievement and spirit of excellence. “Securing the second spot in the overall medal tally among some 600 participating hotels, restaurants, colleges and universities speaks volumes about our students’ and lecturers’ talents, commitment, work ethic and drive for success,” says Neethiahnanthan. Culinaire Malaysia is a biannual national challenge jointly organised by the Malaysian Association of Hotels, Chefs Association of Malaysia and The Malaysian Food and Beverage Executives Association.

Lai Yen Ning creates her Gold Medal cocktail