The 20th annual Cayman Culinary
Society Competition recently brought together the top culinary talent on the Island
for a bit of fierce yet friendly competition at the Ritz-Carlton.
The three day event showcased chefs
competing in a variety of challenges, presided over by judges Augusto
Schreiner, Rainer Hienerwadel and Paul Newman.
Fifty chefs participated – with 190
dishes – which proved extremely difficult to judge, in categories including
Best Hot Soup (Kapila Kodituwakku of Rum Point Restaurant), Best Cold Soup
(Gaya Tharanga of Calypso Grill), Best Hot Appetiser (Thushara Jayalath Siriwardana
of Grand Old House), Best Cold Appetiser (Isagani Puyos of Calypso Grill), Best
Main Course (Saman Liyanage of Champion House Restaurant), Best Dessert
(Thushara Jayalath Siriwardana of Grand Old House) and Best Show Piece (Senthil
Kumar Mathaiah of Cracked Conch, and Damith Saminda from Tukka also receiving a
gold medal in this category).
“The contestants in the Chef of the
Year cook-off were all the gold medal winners from the previous day’s event,
and they not only endured the mystery basket challenge under the close scrutiny
of the judges, but did so in a public forum with spectators including many of
their colleagues and industry professionals, so they were under considerable
pressure and each of them deserves to be recognised for their positive attitude
and professionalism,” said Chef Vidyadhara Shetty, president of the Cayman
Culinary Society.
A new feature this year was the Out
of the Kitchen gala dinner, during which 21 chefs from some of Cayman’s top
restaurants left their kitchens to prepare a three-course meal for a table of
12 guests in the Grand Ballroom of the Ritz.
The event was the brainchild of
Frederic Morineau, executive chef at the Ritz. Guests included Governor Duncan
Taylor, as well as the dean of Culinary Studies at Johnson & Wales
University, Karl Guggenmos.
“Proceeds from this dinner will go
towards Culinary Society projects and into a scholarship initiated by the
Ritz-Carlton to offer an education in hospitality studies for young Caymanians
at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island,” said Chef Shetty.
The duties of master of ceremonies
was split by Cynthia Hew and Vicki Wheaton, with Ms Wheaton braving the hot
pans and sharp knives of the chefs’ stations to do on-the-fly interviews as the
chefs prepared to serve their tables.
World renowned chef Eric Ripert was
the guest speaker and related tales of his own culinary training.
Many others were honoured: Stefan
Ebanks of Grand Cayman Beach Suites won the award for Best Student, Tushara
Jayalath Siriwardana was awarded Most Innovative Caribbean Recipe, Patrick
Brawley of Grand Cayman Beach Suites achieved Best Overall Culinary Skill,
Kapila Kodituwakku of Rum Point Restaurant received the Spirit of the
Competition award, and Olagamage Kusumpala of Grand Cayman Beach Suites won the
Most Determined award.
A big cheer was reserved for
Leonard Khi of the Westin who took the Bartender of the Year award after a
challenging competition.
However, the biggest cheer of the
evening was reserved for the Chef of the Year, which went to Thushara Jayalath
Siriwardana of Grand Old House. He added that award to the three gold medals he
had already claimed earlier. He was warmly congratulated by his fellow chefs,
proving that there exists a strong sense of camaraderie within the Cayman culinary
community.
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