Elizabeth Puquio Landeo is the South America finalist for S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018
The victorious young chef will now represent South America at the Grand Finale in June next year.
After a day of outstanding performances from 10 of the best young chefs in South America, Elizabeth Puquio Landeo was announced as the winner of the South America local competition of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018.
The young chef will now advance to the global Grand Finale due to take place in June 2018 in Milan, Italy.
Elizabeth faced off against nine other contenders on 5 September at Le Cordon Bleu Institute, Lima, with her signature dish entitled ‘Pescado de la Costa’ or ‘Coastal Fish’ in front of a distinguished trio of chefs forming the local jury:
- Rafael Osterling (Peru)
- Harry Sasson (Colombia) and
- Rodolfo de Santis (Brazil)
tasted and evaluated each dish according to the ‘Golden Rules’ and it was Elizabeth’s marinated mackerel with squid ink mayonnaise, quenelled avocado and drops of lime gel garnished with oxalis, cappuccinos and salicornia served on a cold plate that secured her victory.
Speaking of her win, the Peruvian chef de partie at Ambrosía restaurant in Chile, who has also worked in top restaurants like Maido and Borago commented: "I am grateful to the competition for giving so many young people the opportunity to achieve their dreams, not that I hoped to win because I saw a lot of good competition among the participants.
I'm very happy to live the experience and I feel a huge responsibility to represent Latin America’s cuisine. The idea of meeting so many interesting people passionate about the same subject is just great and at next year’s final of S.Pellegrino Young Chef in Milan we will show you the best of Latin American food.”
The local competition rounds, where semifinalists from around the world will compete for the opportunity to move to the Grand Finale in Milan, will continue until December 2017.
At the end of December, the 21 finalists will each be assigned a chef mentor from their regional jury. The chef mentor will support the young chefs competing in the Grand Finale, providing guidance on how to improve their dishes and optimise their performances.
