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Young Culinary Talents run the gauntlet in Nestlé Ja’s Iron Chef Challenge

Published:Tuesday | August 28, 2018 | 12:00 AM
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Ashley Anguin
Maggi ginger cinnamon oven-roasted pork with an Orchard pineapple rice served in a pineapple bowl by Robi-Ann Robinson.
Ashley Anguin
Some of the mystery ingredients that were unveiled: Nestle Orchard Pineapple Juice, McCormick Ground Cinnamon and Copperwood Pork Loin.
Ashley Anguin
Ophilia Hall seasons Rainforest Seafood Red Snapper Fillet in preparation for her dish with Nescafe Classic and Orchard Orange Juice.
Ashley Anguin
Molasses Chicken with a sorrel sauce and seasoned boiled potatoes prepared by Moesha Grant.
Ashley Anguin
Robi-Ann Robinson bastes her pork leg with a cinnamon barbeque sauce.
Ashley Anguin
A plated Maggi ginger cinnamon oven-roasted pork with an Orchard pineapple rice.
Ashley Anguin
Chef Shea Stewart shares his culinary knowledge with Nestle Jamaica Limited’s YOCUTA Interns.
Ashley Anguin
Chef Shea Stewart offers guidance to YOCUTA Interns; from left: Nole Senior, Ophilia Hall and Moesha Grant during their pre preparation stage of the competition.
Ashley Anguin
Chef Shea Stewart stares with enchantment as he watches YOCUTA Interns Robi-Ann Robinson, left and Noel Higgins, (right) prep their meals.
Ashley Anguin
Stewed Tofu with White Rice with a secret ingredient of peanut butter by Nole Senior.
Ashley Anguin
Chunky peanut butter tofu with white rice and a seasoned tortilla chip prepared by Nole Senior.
Ashley Anguin
Three plating presentations by Nole Senior of her Stewed Tofu.
Ashley Anguin
Maggi beef vegetable stir-fry, accompanied by a sweet chili guava apple sauce and Orchard apple ginger rice by Noel Higgins.
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Nestle Professional, the Nestle Food Service business arm, served as patron for an Iron Chef Culinary Challenge in the corporate kitchen of Nestle Jamaica Limited recently.

On this occasion, six young Jamaican chefs from the Young Culinary Talents (YOCUTA) Programme had an opportunity to exhibit their culinary skills and nutrition mastery.

The YOCUTA program, which kicked off in tandem with the 2018 internship programme Nestle Needs YOUTH, is real-world preparation of young culinary students through theoretical and practical cooking experiences that acclimatises them for work in the hospitality industry.

For the Iron Chef display, each talent was presented with five mystery ingredients from the Nestle portfolio from which to compose five dishes. Culinary savant, Elite Creations and The Pallet principal Shea Stewart shared snapshots of his journey to becoming a chef ahead of the competition encouraging the participants to persevere in spite of the obstacles. Stewart served as the primary adjudicator for the cooking competition.

Moe'sha Grant, a 2018 YOCUTA intern, expressed pleasure with her experiences in the program thus far.

 

Highlights

 

"The highlight of being a YOCUTA chef, is working with the culinary entrepreneurs associated with Nestle. We learn a lot from them and from collaborating with each other in the kitchen."

This batch of interns was under the tutelage of chef Shea Stewart, Cordon Bleu alumnus Terri-Ann Brown of Kukup Kreations, and resident Nestle culinary specialist Tonia Black.

The 2018 cohort was extracted from the HEART Trust/NTA; University of West Indies, Mona; and the University of Technology, Jamaica's hospitality departments.

Brian Hanson, country business leader for Nestle Professional, welcomed the relaunch of the youth culinary initiative and said : "This is a great program for Nestle as we continue the development of our youth across all markets, Jamaica being no exception. We have a wealth of talent across various fields, and Nestle Professional, the business arm which focuses on food service, is proud to be partner to the development of culinary talent in this vital sector."

"Nestle is committed to training future generations in the culinary world, to training better chefs and facilitating experiences to guarantee better job opportunities," Hanson concluded.