Regional Finalists 2022-23

My dish is a celebration of the vibrant culinary traditions of Indonesia, infused with the gastronomic influences I’ve embraced since moving to Hong Kong. At its core is Nasi Tumpeng, a ceremonial Javanese dish that is the centerpiece of any family gatherings.

As a nod to my Indonesian heritage, I will present my interpretation of the iconic Sumatran dish Sate Padang featuring a deeply flavorful grilled Hong Kong duck, connecting the flavors of my past and present.

Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore are the places influenced me the most. Through this dish, starting from the broth, it's like starting a new journey into the unknown, mist yet exciting; followed by the snack, when you walk into the wood somehow can see delicate food prepared by the nature; and last is the main, you enter the heart of the wood and much more things to explore, which just like our culinary journey. I want to set new trend that how different backgrounds can create interesting story.

Many chefs talk about « sustainability » on media, and I am also concerned, especially when it's related to food waste. Food waste carries a social, environmental, and financial problem, as a cook, everyday we see how much food we waste from the kitchen.

During this competition, I would like to make my own creation for the purpose of zero waste: The whole chicken will be used entirely. I would like to express what we can do as a chef with our little strength and our social responsibility.

Through my dish I am showing my journey throughout my years in the culinary industry. The last few years I have learned many skills that I incorporated into my dish. Such as making pasta, broths and foams as I did on my first station. To butchering fish and making mousses which did after switching sections. With the message that perfection is a lot of little things done well, learning something each day big or small, one day you look back on where you started and what you are doing now.

Receiving whole deer every fortnight, I noticed that the unused offal was being wasted. So I decided to put them to good use in a dish to raise awareness of food waste. My aim is to promote responsible and sustainable cooking, reflecting my passion for gastronomy and my values of respect for natural resources.

I want to show that fine dining food can have zero waste when done correctly, getting creative on how to utilize trim in order to reduce food waste will make fine dining more sustainable. this dish when done correctly in a restaurant setting will have zero waste associated with it. it uses techniques that I have developed alongside some of my mentors. This dish is very important to me as it shows my mindest towards cooking on one plate. No waste, local, healthy, delicious.

I would like to show that we can eat less meat and fish and eat more vegan or vegetarian.
You can get so many nice flavours and combinations that we can all eat less animals but still get the feeling to have eaten something special

In this dish I want to give a stage to an ingredient that I think is underestimated (the horse) and represent it as much as possible. I take the food of the horse, the so-called soft food and complement with it parts of the animal to present the whole. I want this animal to be culinary understood from beginning to end.

Tikka Masala - a dish that started my culinary journey. It captivated me as a chef's apprentice with its layers of flavor, the first dish I mastered and the one that won my wife's heart, as the first dish I cooked for her. For this competition, I present it in two ways: whole, to enjoy it fully with all flavours present. But alongside it, a deconstructed version with all elements still present and polished, presented to highlight its individual mastery.

This dish gives nobility to the sturgeon by placing it at the centre of the plate, with the caviar playing a secondary role as an accompaniment. I love the idea of pairing the fish with the highly prized egg it produces. Born to two young parents, I grew up between Sologne and Provence; by combining the flavours of Douglass, pine kernels and artichokes, as well as remembering the tian my grandmother used to prepare for me and my love of freshwater fish, I'm showing my origins.

A plate full of memories of my trip to Bretagne in the summer. I found a wild fennel herb in the nature of Bretagne, I bought organic vegetables and herbs from local producers. I fished in the sea of Bretagne, (natural fish and natural common cockle and seaweeds that actually experienced fishing)
The main ingredient,Turbot, is baked, The Flounder Fin, bone-based sauce, and Turbot skin chips, all of which can be cooked and enjoyed with different sauces and garnishes.

My signature dish, 'Oceanic Revelations,' contrasts the natural color of white cod with black squid ink to symbolize the impact of sea pollution on ocean life. Fennel with green herbs and a delicate fennel sauce represents hope and the fragility of marine ecosystems. Inspired by sustainable practices, it emphasizes the importance of conscientious seafood consumption and urgently calls for the protection of our marine ecosystems for future generations.

My favorite part of my childhood is the sea so that was my main inspira tion for this signature dish.I really want to transmite the ocean to everyone who tries the dish, especially because I'm from Viana do Castelo and we have several tradition related to the sea as getting up early and going to the beach to get seafood from the rocks.I remember the first time I tried a sea urchin, 100% sea.I want everyone to feel that flavour, that memory and get to know better Viana do Castelo by this dish.

With this dish I seek to change the focus generated by some products and turn it into something more personal. Using parts of not so common products and plating them in tableware designed and handcrafted by myself.

500 characters are less than I imagined so I'm retyping everything and trying to be shorter I want to say with this dish that "tutto il mondo è paese" because from an idea of an italian dish (risotto ai frutti di mare), using spanish and mexican products and preparation I'm making a dish that is present in a different way in the three countries (arroz a la tumbada in mexico and paella de mariscos in spain).
As well I choose to use bivalves and seaweed because they are sustainable products.

What makes a species local, indigenous, alien, invasive, naturalized, or imported to a specific ecology ?How do species, including humans, root in places they are not originally from? I reflect about an invasive specie, the blu crab that over-populates the Lagoon. Reminding us about the colonial history that brought corn from the Americas, I considered the meaning of becoming “naturalized” to local ecologies. I complete by using spontaneous plants that reconnects to the tidal of Venice, halophytes.

The concept of territory is an important thing when I think about creating a dish. I owe a lot to Tuscany, so I chose the Casentino trout. We are talking about a unique specimen bred in Stia, in the province of Arezzo, where "Puccini Trout Farming" allowed me to experience first-hand one of the most interesting products found so far. A fish that struck me so much that I really wanted to pay homage to it in all its facets, using every part of it in the name of sustainability and reducing waste.

This is a vegetarian reinterpretation of a very famous and loved dish of my territory which is beef in oil.
I believe that vegetables should be increasingly included in the menus of our restaurants to try to make people understand that vegetables can also be prepared in a tasty and particular way, and it will certainly be, in my opinion, the future of nutrition.
I would like the vegetable to become the protagonist with this dish as if it were a piece of meat.

The hen is the base of one of our emblematic typical dishes: the sancocho, a soup that is eaten at any time and on any occasion, it is cooked in firewood causing the soup to have smoky notes. It was with this idea that this dish was born, as I was curious about how to use the little parts of it, such as the neck, how the food ferments inside the gizzard and how through the use of one hundred per cent of the ingredients.

On this dish I want to express the life and customs of the first inhabitants of Paraguay. hunters, fishermen, gatherers and growers, showing that with products from the Paraguayan soil, which nature gives us by applying production techniques with adequate knowledge, they can be served with great pride.
The diet of the first inhabitants was based on cassava, corn, sweet potato, banana, vegetables and fruits.
They used hunting and fishing.

All the ingridients in my dish come from the farm I grew up, I sowed them myself, and I prepared them using traditional and contemporary techniques. The aim is for the judges to eat a humble part of Colombia at its best. I want this dish to be a way to give a voice to the farmers who had to leave their land and to create reflections about the crops and dishes that call themselves sustainable but often cause damage to the countryside and the traditional knowledge of peasant families.

I advocate, “to make full use of all things and sustainable ingredients."

I selected the specialty ingredient "Yanchi Tan Sheep" from Ningxia, China and local wild leek flowers. Using Chinese and Western fusion cuisine techniques to cook the lamb chops, lamb loin, lamb bones, internal organs and other parts combined with local flavours to form the flavour profile of the final dish. Puna series mineral water is used to cook the Yanchi Tan sheep, this is also the water that the sheep grew up drinking.

When making sauce and stock, I used the stock from making “lamb wrapped with lamb belly” combined with a sauce made from lamb bones. During cooking, kitchen utensils such as wide-mouth pots and pressure cooker are used to reduce the cooking time and to achieve the reduction of carbon emissions, and sustainability of ingredients. Geographical specialty product "Yanchi Tan Sheep" is selected with the intention to be the guardian of pure bloodlines, and to promote all over China and onward to the world.
 

This is a modern culinary expression that combines local Sichuan ingredients with traditional French cooking techniques. Through this dish, it showcases the exchange and fusion of different regions and cultures, highlighting the harmony and balance of Sichuan's natural environment. Fresh seasonal bamboo shoots, sun-drenched Daliangshan yellow potatoes, and the unique flavor of wood ginger are used, aiming to express the skills and aesthetics of modern cooking through traditional French methods.

For me, the meat of the turbot fish is tender and not fishy, and it often appears on every household's dining table. The common cooking methods include steaming, braising, pan-frying, and more. Although it is a very common fish, I want to try to create a unique experience based on my own understanding. Furthermore, it seems that the concept of "numbing and spicy" is not widely known internationally. I hope to introduce the concept and let more people understand the charm of Chinese cuisine and the unique flavors it offers

With more than 10 years experience in different countries it took me a second to realize and change mi mindset when it comes to cooking when I landed in Sweden a year ago, all green and good use of resources. My personal goal in my career is to reduce waste as much as possible, we are so many in this planet but most of us don't do enough to minimize our negative impact in nature. I believe we can do so much more and what´s better than start with what we eat in our restaurants?

Coming from an island, I strived to do products from there, representing the producers I grew up with. This dish combines products from different social rank (mackerel-langoustine). Some are my background, modest countryside, some are my present ‘palace cuisine’. Married together, proves that there is no rules. Everything can be good. There is no straightforward path — that embodies my life. It is also the style of cuisine I aim to go to: not having anything fixed or pre-decided.

I would like to just honestly share my idea for this competition. I understand that not everyone that applies will participate however it does not mean I could try and share my journey to San Pellegrino, perhaps worldwide.
This dish represents my memories of my grandmother that I wanted to give my twist on. I applied lessons that I learned throughout my culinary journey that hopefully tells the story and what I am still willing to learn.

Through this dish, I aim to express the elegance and complexity of Australian gourmet cuisine. The combination of duck, plums, and Australian black truffles showcases the country's rich agricultural diversity and culinary potential. The dish pays homage to my grandfather's farm and Australia's ability to produce high-quality, luxury ingredients and its growing reputation in the global gourmet scene.

Through this dish, I wanted to link my 2 countries of affection which are France, my country of origin, and Australia, the country that welcomes me.
For this, there was no question of importing products from Europe, nowadays I believe that it is up to our generation to limit the environmental impact through our cuisine.
So I looked for products grown and appreciated in each of the two countries, I then selected them individually from local producers, every single product comes from Queensland.

The main purpose of this dish is to change the misconception that exists in some beef offal's, in this case "sweetbread", considered an exquisite treat in my country, Argentina, however not so pleasant in other cultures. Through childhood flavors I aim to encourage people to experience something different by creating a beautiful dish with colors that pique curiosity to try. And encourage sustainability by utilizing part of the cow that are often considered waste as sweetbread and tendons.

I discovered my passion for food at an early age while watching my mother create meals . Seeing how much enthusiasm you can put in to each dish drew me in. A local favorite is the Octopus. Coming from a small island in the mediterranean reminds me of how grateful we should be for finding fresh local produce. A main ingredient that i kept constantly on my menu. It reminds me of my childhood when my mum used to slow cook it for a Sunday lunch.

In a world of abundance, we need to look at a more nursing future. Sourcing ingredients has become paralysing for our planet. Due to over-fishing and over breeding, there is a big impact on the bee lives that provide us reproduction, which is necessary for our lives. In my dish, I combined sustainable farmed sea bass, free range pork and ecofriendly bee products from our little country. The dish shows how important sustainability is and also how the elements of nature are and can be connected.

My dish celebrates the tradition and sustainability of the Vipava Valley. Jota made from Turnip Tropinka, served in aluminum dishes, carries the flavors and memories of the harvest. The humble Turnip Tropinka symbolizes simplicity and homeliness. Accompanying it is the skin sausage Krotegin, bread made from grape seed flour, and smoked grape seed oil. The dish blends traditional and modern techniques. Each bite evokes memories of family, vineyards, and values, connecting the past with the future

I want to focus on traditional Rajasthani hunter-style cooking by showcasing grains, vegetables of the region. It reflects the time when kings used to go out hunting for weeks, they would carry minimal spices and grain and they would cook the hunted animal in the pit. My dish is surrounded by that idea but with my execution.

This is the dish that I first wrote down 4 years ago when I was planning to do my first ever pop up, which unfortunatelly for one reason on another I never got round to do. Now revisiting it with different techniques that I've learned along the way I'd hope to be able to present to you a well balanced and complete plate. I chose the flovours of celeriac and apple becuase I think the combination is delicious. I'd like to express how delicious vegetables can be.

“Bringing the beauty of this world to the plate” is the message I would like to convey with this ‘pop art’ style dish.My most memorable encounter with the courgette is that of seeding on a courgette farm. This exercise peaked my interest in where produce comes from, how it’s grown and how to best represent that in a dish.The courgette is simple; yet when used correctly, it can add beauty and freshness to a dish.

Through this dish, I aim to express a harmony of flavors and cultures, celebrating the versatility and richness of plant-based ingredients. The blend of beet root with lactofermented strawberries and blueberries highlights the art of fermentation, an age-old preservation technique. The spices, wine, and agave syrup reflect a fusion of global culinary traditions. Accompanied by the refreshing tomato water and the vibrant foam made of fermented fruits, An example of my culinary identity.

The Vietnam Cookery Culture is not simply the France and China Cuisine, but it is the fusion between those Big Two Cordon Bleu that give birth to the Street Foods in Saigon. The type of “ Haute Cuisine” are available to all the people, no matter where are they from.
My Mission, is to deliver this message to Fine Dinning Table, the belief is to parade “Before Fine Dinning was born, there was Street Food”

My dish is a homage to my mom. Being an immigrant, my mom has faced a lot of obstacles with my grandma (mee-maw), but the first time they were able to bond was through growing potatoes of all things. Now, every couple of potatoes are filled with the same excitement as that day she shared digging them up with my mee-maw. This dish is a portrayal of my mom’s garden with a mix of Filipino and American flavors, with hints of the chickens that try to pluck her harvest before fruition.

This dish represents the Italian immigration in Belgium in the 20th century, for working in the coal mines. My family is from this history. The carbonnade is Belgium, the raviolis is Italy, and the vegetable charcoal the raison of this immigration. I want to cook the pigeon “des Collines”, because it’s an exceptional product but also, it reduces the carbon foothprint instead of using beef.

I created these dishes by reminiscing about the morning's picking. The first thing we did in the restaurant before setting off to pick mushrooms was to drink our coffee. I made my first plate with mushrooms, coffee and chocolate, with a few crisps to remind us of our foraging trip. My second plate is to take you with me on a foraging trip, to walk in the forest and find all the things you can find in the woods.

When I started to create this dish a lot of people told me not to do it because it contains too much work.
So this explains my stubbornness and love for the work. The sweet potato also became my personal logo.

I want to express that you can make things very complex without a million technics. sometimes a pure product has his own complexities.