Six colleges have made the final round of Zest Quest 2019. Moving forward to the final cook off are Colchester Institute, Farnborough College of Technology, New City College, North Hertfordshire College, University of West London, and Westminster Kingsway College.
The winners will be announced at the Zest Quest Asia 2019 Gala Dinner and Awards Night on Friday, 8th February 2019 at the London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, following the cook off to be held earlier in the day at the hotel’s signature restaurant, Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen.
Zest Quest Asia was founded in 2013 by Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala in collaboration with the Master Chefs of Great Britain. Since then, over 100 colleges have entered the competition, which aims to raise the profile of Asian cuisine among aspirant student chefs.
One of the chief criteria for entry is that participating students hold permanent UK residency status. The overall winners, comprising a team of three students and their tutor, enjoy an educational and cultural trip of a lifetime to a major Asian city.
There are also a number of additional prizes at stake, offering winners the chance to experience sponsored tours, master classes and other immersive activities where they can learn more about the techniques and produce found in Asian cookery and cuisine.
Cyrus Todiwala OBE said, ‘One of the difficulties of judging a rigorous competition like Zest Quest Asia is we get some truly impressive entries and it’s a challenge for us judges to come up with a shortlist. But my fellow judges and I would like to thank and express our admiration for all the colleges that submitted entries as this showed their ambition to go beyond what is sometimes expected of them. Best of luck and congratulations to the finalists. We expect great things from all of you in February next year.’
Andrew Bennett MBE, chairman of the Zest Quest Asia board of judges said, ‘It was a tough decision and the colleges that got through to the finals now have the opportunity to show they truly have the zest for Asian cuisine. We hope that our colleagues in industry and their friends will join us in cheering on the students, their tutors, supportive colleges and families at the Zest Quest Asia Gala Dinner and Awards Night on 8th February 2019.’
Zest Quest Asia 2019 enjoys significant support from industry. Sponsors include Castelnau, Hilton, Koppert Cress, Patriarche, Regale, Robot Coupe, and Tilda.
Tickets are now on sale for the Gala Dinner and Awards Night. £85pp and £750 for a table of 10. Contact assistant.cyrus@cafespice.co.uk.
For further information relating to the competition, and if you are interested in becoming a sponsor, contact assistant.cyrus@cafespice.co.uk.
