The 9th edition of the Naga Chef, ‘Let's get cooking’ began at the ampitheatre, Naga Heritage Village, Kisama on December 2. (Morung photo)
Morung Express news
Kohima | December 02
Setting new standards for one of the most prestigious culinary competition in the state, the 9th edition of the Naga Chef, ‘Let's get cooking’ began at the ampitheatre, Naga Heritage Village, Kisama on December 2.
In the first round of testing their ‘culinary or cooking skills’ as the round is named, contestants were given 60 minutes to cook a vegetarian and non- vegetarian Naga dish. The contestants were also given free access to the pantry to select items and ingredients to be used in their curry.
The 9th edition is also being different as the contestants will be cooking live through to finals.
As of now the contestants are being made to cook in commercial cooking items however, organisers said cooking techniques indigenous to Nagas such as cooking on fire, bamboo etc will be facilitated incase the contestants opt for that.
A total of seven contestants who have been selected to cook here after screening comes from different background including young professionals and students and are indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland.
During the course of eight day, will see elimination and two final contestants will be selected to cook in the finals.
“There will be seven rounds that will identify different skills required to be a successful chef. Contestants will be assessed on specific cooking skills, creativity and innovation, experience and knowledge of local cuisine, passion for food and the art of cooking, ability to work under pressure attitude and teamwork skills,” the organizers informed.
Some tasks the contestants will go through are pressure test, mystery basket task, dessert round among others.
The participants will be judged according to different rounds including cooking skills, childhood memories, innovation round, just desserts, and my Naga Thali which will be followed by Grand Finale.
Naga cuisines and ingredients common to Nagas are being used here which is also a hallmark of the competition to promote Naga cuisines.
Naga Chef is organised by Synergy Group Enterprise and sponsored by the Department of Tourism, Government of Nagaland. The competition will conclude on December 9.
This year’s Naga Chef Winner will walk away with prize money of Rs 2 lakh and gift hampers and there will be gift hampers to the round winners.
One of the takeaways for the competitors of this competition is masterclasses that will be conducted by renowned chefs from the State. Around 5 cooking masterclass will be held for all the contestants during the days.
The judges of the Naga Chef season 9 are: Chef Joel Basumatari, Rovi Chase, and Alemjungla Jamir and the guest judge will be Chef Gary Mehigan, Author and Restaurateur, one of the original judges of MasterChef Australia.
