Regional Finalists 2022-23

My favorite childhood dish is Assam Laksa. To me, the beauty of this dish is the combination of flaky fish melding together with the herbaceous, acidic, spicy, sweet umami broth with nuggets of larger sized fish meat. My version of Assam Laksa utilizes homemade traditional rempah enhanced with fish garum & fish-bone stock & laksa leaf oil with a mosaic made of Kingfish and Farce using the fish trimmings served with Ginger Flower Sorbet and Fish Skin-Yuba Tuile topped w Native Herbs and Salsa.

I choose this dish because my mom used to cook this for me and now I cook it for my son. I wan to represent thai heritage dishes in a modern way, to reflect that if the products are treated with love and respect, so the dish will be. I refine the flavours and techniques to elevate it even more, to show the proud heritage of the Thailand ingredients and recipes.

This dish is made using a "priced" protein in our ASEAN culture. It is not something we get to enjoy much of as it was expensive as well. Many farms and villagers I have visited prior to the opening of restaurant Province have hardly enjoyed a prestiges protein as duck. However, when enjoyed it is truly for a special occasion, be it a birthday, wedding or a personal achievement for the families. This dish helps to tell the story of how the different cultures come together as one in a dish.

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.

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.

The Char is a fish which lives directly in our alpine lakes in Ladis. So the main ingredient stands for my home town. The char is served in 2 different styles. Once as "Cordon Bleu" and once stained. With the dish i would like to show, that it´s possible to connect typical ingredients and tastes from my home town with tastes and ingredients from all over the world. So the whole world on "one plate".

My dish should represent the northern Waldviertel and the history of my family. The idea for my signature dish was born in my head from childhood flavours. But I also want to use it to show sustainability and make a statement that you can still cook an interesting style of cuisine using classic techniques.

With this dish I want to show my love for the italian country, people, language and its cousine. And of course all the delicious ingredients. So I took the ingredients of my favorite dish "pasta e patate" and made a variant as main plate, another variante as a satellite plate and last but not least the original "pasta e patate". Classics will never be old.

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.

I would like to pay tribute to all the places I have lived, thanks to my family coming from many backgrounds. I chose a fish that I love. I think it’s a shame that most of the time not all the part of the fish are used.Food waste is something chefs all around the globe should fight and this is why I chose not to cook the filet. Deliciousness is everywhere.You will find everything I love in
the three cuisines: French, Lebanese and Ivorian.I wanted to show and share the cuisine close to my heart...

This dish for me represents Irish culture married with classical french techniques,as an Irish chef in France it's something that's very important to me.I break down the elements of the whiskey making process into individual steps, and that utilise those steps to inspire a key ingredient on the plate, all to accompany Irish Beef Tongue."Whiskey loosening the tongue" is an Irish phrase for when we drink whiskey it helps open conversation, I'm playing on that phrase as I braise the beef in whiskey.

With this signature dish I intend to elevate the octopus to its maximum using all parts of it, without any waste. The place where I work, in Tavira, octopus is one of the great treasures that exists, and I intend to make it shine!

I would like to express the evolution of nuances and flavours that develops in cold-ripened sea bass without humidity. The maturation of pork pieces is a technique widely used in our area, it is carried out in the winter months in order to take advantage of the dry cold. The impediment of having fresh fish available on a daily basis has led us to implement this technique and adapt it in the restaurant to achieve a regularity in quality and a product with a great complexity of flavour and nuances.

The dish represents my whole essence as a cook and as a person. It evokes my Italian-Granadian roots. It is a journey through the 5 senses that reflects my culinary maturity learned so far. At the same time, it aims to show diners the values that represent my cuisine. Love for the profession, respect for the raw material and sustainability with the environment.

The recipe I propose represents my path: past, present and future.The eel is the most convivial ingredient of my homeland, cooked by a grandmother who thanks to it was able to gather everyone around a table. present in my Sardinia, worked and structured manages to give new variations. The bittersweet represents my present, the combinations, the olfactory references and above all intrigue with the taste, are the pillars of my current cuisine.

With this dish, I would like to express the concept that the replacement of animal protein with vegetable protein, allows the dish to have an equal taste, thus reducing the environmental impact, being also environmentally friendly. I hope, in this way, to succeed in approaching all food intolerances and pathologies that do not always allow the guest to feel free and involved in the free and varied choice of multiple dishes.

This dish represents me and everything I wanted to believe in. I was born in Milan, moved to Ancona, mother Bolognese, father Milanese and Sicilian grandparents This could only lead to my personal split. This leads me to a singular deepening of every part of me, held together at the same time by feelings, passions and personal beliefs. So is my Signature Dish: the ingredients are enhanced individually but even more when combined thanks to the untied sauce.

My dish was inspired by acarajé, a traditional street food from the Brazilian Northeast. The message I want to convey is the symbol of resistance, conquest and freedom that it has represented for many women around the end of 18th century. Preparing and selling this food was one of the first female professions to emerge in Brazil, allowing many enslaved women to buy their own freedom and that of their acquaintances through the profits they made.

Chiriqui's recognized for being the produce pantry of Panama, that’s why my dish's focused on the earth’s bounty with key ingredients of the region. Seren, is a corn soup endemic to the region, with sweet and delicate flavors. My grandmother use the whole corn, from the husk to the cob, because she always says that what the land produces must be used in its entirety. Ubaldina is a homage to her, her heritage, and a journey through my childhood.

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.

Inspired by the first book of traditional Chinese medicine, "Huangdi Neijing," which states that food is food when eaten on an empty stomach, but medicine when consumed by patients, I have chosen medicinal herbs such as Poria cocos, japonica rice, Gastrodia elata, and Phyllanthus emblica as the main ingredients, complemented by traditional handcrafted tea. This has led to the creation of a pure vegetarian dish, embodying the concept of food and medicine sharing the same origin.

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.
 

I have been training in the culinary arts since I was 14 and that set me on my career path. It allowed me to gain a thorough understanding of Western gastronomy and culinary techniques. But I have never veered too far from what is familiar to me; Chinese cuisine is etched in my memory and I am mesmerized by it. Coupled with foreign elements, it has sparked whimsical surprises in my style of Chinese cuisine.
 

This dish is inspired by our workplaces garden. Our own grown vegetables and salads combined with chefs knowledge creates Synergy. I would like to use this to entice you choose vegetarian options more often, I believe it’s beneficial for our health and also our environment.I I believe if we consume less meat it would be meaningful change for environment. Chosing locally produced food we decrease transport waist and reduce carbon footprint. Use local produce were possible. Less is more.

This dish focuses on solder fish which is one of the largest food sources for many fish species in the ocean. also that is hardly used in our gastronomic. more focused on Nordic ingredients and history with a mix of classic and modern cooking techniques.

Knowledge makes you respect the raw materials, if you know how we produce food we also learn to treat it with respect. Knowledge is power to respect different people, countries and finally the globe.

This salad is very popular Colombian salad on the Atlantic coast in and we find it with the name clown salad, alluding its name to the bright colors when we mix all the vegetables.
I want to show to the world Colombian’s cousin, and how we integrate the different texture, flavours, colours and techniques from our rich cultural heritage, presenting a popular salad in a sophisticate way.

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.

The story of the dish tells my story with the cuisine. I use a culinary technique from each chef I have worked with, while adding my personal touch that I associate with the products of my native country. Which gives a textured dish, full of color with this full-bodied, powerful, fragrant juice which gives character to the dish. This dish testifies to my love for my profession, the ups, and downs, the sacrifices I have had to make for the sole purpose of living my passion.

My dish is my interpretation to the classic Borscht. I took my mother’s recipe and disassembled it and combined it with the local ingredients and flavor’s. The dish itself served on plates that passed in my family in inheritance.
My goal was to make a dish that combines two cultures, memories from my childhood and also has minimum waste. I tried to use all the parts of all the ingredients.

Working in Mano2, the initiative behind micro seasonality, zero waste and preserving food and flavor through various fermentation techniques began the concept behind this dish. The inspiration behind the story comes from the fall season in continental Croatia where there is a rich abundance of various mushrooms, wild herbs and vegetables. We have showcased them using techniques seen in Mano2 which have preserved and fully expressed its soul purpose while also using the ingredients as a whole.

The dish is an ode to my hometown Acre, a mixed city of Jews & Arabs, located by the Sea. I Combine haute cooking techniques and local ingredients with classic Jewish recipes, creating a fusion that reflects my hope for peace in our region. I’m using blue crab as the main ingredient, an invasive local species. Diluting it, helps to the restoration of the local maritime ecosystem. It’s presented in the dish in 4 ways, expressing zero waste and Nose to Tail principles with local ingredients.

This dish signifies my journey , it starts off with my heritage and roots - this being the base flavours of masala, Granadilla and Smokey Braai flavours ( Braai: South African cooking method ) , these flavours represent where my journey began. At the same time showcasing my beliefs of respecting the ingredients and using them with integrity and love , expressing my beliefs through food . My journey was not an easy one , but I made sure it was colourful, vibrate and bold.

This dish is all about a recreation of a happy memory growing up and getting a nostalgic feeling. Cooking and food to me is all about a mixture of new discovery and connecting to a different place, a different time, a memory, a feeling. When I was growing up my mother would take me to my nanny's place and she would always be in the kitchen making something. Two standout dishes I remember always helping her with were her Veranicki's which are a Russian perogy and borscht. We would sit for hours chopping vegetables, stuffing veranickis, and spending time together at her table. The recipe for the dough is her fathers recipe and I wanted to do a bit of a modern take on the classic dough and by adding elements of borscht through dill, beetroots, and creme fraiche throughout the dish. The duck parts of the dish are a more recent memory of moving half way around the world to come work in London at The Ritz Hotel. One of the most memorable dish's that we serve at The Ritz is the Duck a la Presse. The theater and level of service makes this more than just a dish, but creates an everlasting memory to anyone who would order it. Even the people around would remember it, it's so special.

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.

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 childhood was based on different gastronomic backgrounds about sharing with family and friends around food, they know me as a seafood lover. The translation of “Plebe bichi” is “naked boy”, from the slang of the northwest coast of Mexico, referring to me as a little boy and how I came to the world (naked), and how all this journey that we call life starts giving you an identity. I adapted my grandma’s east-style tamal recipe to a northwest Mexican tamal from my mom's hometown as a gratitude.

My intention was to use every piece of an often-overlooked ingredient, prepare it in a variety of ways, and build depth with fermented products. Leek hearts were steamed and marinated, more fibrous leaves were braised for pasta filling, inner leaves were made into a mousseline with leftover quail egg whites, the leek tops were made into an oil, a few leaves were fried to make leek hay, and the remaining scraps were made into an ash to color the pasta dough. Paired with miso, amazake, and shoyu

Sustainability and deliciousness are my beliefs, because when combined are strong enough to make a change in what today is a broken food chain.
Also Connecting my past and my origins with what I think the future should look like in gastronomy, is what makes me the happiest. Through my dish and my cooking, I want to share a message: “Eating sustainable food, food that’s around you, following seasons and bringing traditions from the past to the present, is going to make the difference for us and for the future generations".

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.

With this dish, I want to convey much more than just a culinary experience: I want to pass on a story of commitment to ecology and sustainable development. For me, Neirivue trout, caught in the pristine waters of the Gruyère region, embodies the tradition and quality that nature has to offer. By choosing to work with this local fish, I am committed to respecting and preserving our environment. The fresh, fragrant herbs from the Mossettes garden are at the heart of it all.