The fourth season of the International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO), organised by the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), will be held from January 28 to February 2, 2018. Teams from more than 50 countries will compete for the winner’s trophy, a cash prize of $10,000. The event is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and various state tourism departments.
YCO 2018 was flagged off with a Lucky Draw held recently at The Double Tree by Hilton in London, wherein the fifty participating countries were divided into five groups from Group A to E – with Team India falling in Group A. The curtain raiser was attended by the celebrity chefs who will judge the mega competition. Dr Suborno Bose, Chairman of YCO 2018 Committee and Ahmed Abdullah, member of YCO 2018 committee and director of IIHM Delhi, were also present on the occasion.
Talking about the event, Dr Bose said, “The YCO was conceptualised as a platform for young chefs-in-training from around the world to interact and showcase their talent. We are glad to see a great response from the international community, who have come together to make this event a great success over the past three editions. In future, we intend to make it bigger with over 100 countries participating in our next edition.”
10 celebrity chefs from across the world will shoulder the responsibility of selecting YCO 2018’s winner. The Chairperson of the Jury Panel for YCO 2018 will be Prof. David Foskett (OBE), who is the author of the bestselling book ‘Practical Cookery & Theory of Catering’ and an Emeritus Professor at the London School of Hospitality and Tourism, University of West London. Other chefs who will be on the jury are Chef Chris Galvin, Chef John Wood, Chef Enzo Oliveri, Zenobia Nadirshaw, Ron Scott, Shaun Kenworthy, Chef Udoleick, Chef Andreas Mueller and Chef Karl Guggenmos.
IIHM’s team of chefs will be led by Padmashri awardee Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor who will also judge the competition. IIHM’s brand ambassador Chef Ranveer Brar and celebrity chef Kunal Kapoor will also be present. Other guest judges will include Chef Saurav Sahai, Chef Abhijit Ghosh and Chef Pradip Rosario among others.
The 2018 Olympiad has three rounds as compared to four rounds in previous years. The opening ceremony will be held at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi. The first round of the competition for each team will take place in Delhi, Pune and Bangalore
