MLA BLACK BOX CHALLENGE
An event indigenous to Bali, and now encompasses Chefs from all over the world is set to be staged on the island of the Gods, Bali. 50 young, talented and professional chefs from Hotels and Restaurants Island wide, will unite at the hotel Nikko Bali Resort & Spa on October 26, 2006 for the MLA Black Box Culinary Challenge. The Black Box challenge is a unique competition where participating chefs will only receive a black box containing ingredients 24 hours prior to the start of the competition. The members of each team have to create a three course menu for 20 people maximizing the contents in the black box. This menu will be judged by a team of overseas Chefs, and served at a special dinner on October 26th.
This challenging competition was first established 10 years ago in Bali providing an opportunity for young talented chefs to continuously create dishes that are suitable to the requirements of today’s high consumer demand. From Bali, the challenge sprawled throughout the Asia Pacific region including Australia as well as the Middle East. Soon the competition will also incorporate teams from Europe and USA. 2006, celebrates ten years after its inception, MLA’s Black Box Culinary challenge has influenced more than 2,000 young chefs around the Asia Pacific region, helping lift their awareness and appreciation of Australian beef, mutton, lamb and goat meat.
The Bali MLA Black Box Culinary Challenge for 2006 has attracted participants from; Sheraton Laguna, The Oberoi, Four Seasons Sayan Ubud, Discovery Kartika Plaza, The Bvlgari Hotel, STP Hotel School, Ritz Carlton Bali Resort & Spa and Nikko Hotel Resort & Spa. The opportunity opens the door for the winning team to participate in further heats of the international MLA Black Box Culinary Challenge to be held overseas 2007.
About the running of the challenge
Each team is given a mystery black box of high quality sponsored ingredients and 1 hour to develop a 3-course menu. They take box away with them to prepare their menu entries for competition judging and subsequently to be served to guests at a specially arranged dinner the following evening. Members of the team must be local young professionals with a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 5 years kitchen experience.
“The tenth anniversary of MLA Black Box is going to be a very special and prestigious occasion for both chefs’ hospitality professionals in Bali, since the MLA Black Box was established here in Bali. The clear objective of the Black Box Competition is to encourage local young professionals to compete in a team environment where they are given the opportunity to display their skills and talents in a hands-on outside catering situation. They are the future of Bali’s ever developing culinary world. Through this challenge, I hope it will expose fresh new ideas and stimulating creativity to Bali’s culinary scene” expressed Markus Krickelberg, Chairman of Bali Culinary Professionals – organizer of this year’s culinary challenge.
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