Zest Quest Asia – Tilda Challenge 2021 Deadline Extended
The deadline for Zest Quest Asia – Tilda Challenge 2021 has been extended until Wednesday 24th February, giving culinary lecturers and student chefs more time to join Cyrus Todiwala and Tilda Foodservice on an inspirational culinary adventure.
Since the January launch of the virtual spin-off to the celebrated competition, headline sponsor Tilda has organised on-line tutorials for over 900 student chefs and their lecturers on the role that speciality rice can play in creating delicious and authentic Asian dishes.
The tutorials complement the virtual interactive lectures on Asian cookery, and its historic and cultural influences being ran by Zest Quest Asia across the UK in the run-up to the entry deadline.
Annette Coggins, Head of Foodservice, Tilda UK said of the event:
“It’s fantastic to see young chefs getting excited about Asian cooking and exploring a culinary art that they may not have had the chance to before. Zest Quest Asia has always been such an important educational event in college calendars, and we are so pleased that the challenges of Covid-19 have not impacted the spirit of students or their passion to learn and cook.
Tilda Foodservice is devoted to inspiring the next generation of chefs and we’re encouraging lecturers and their students to get involved and have a go. There’s so much to gain from taking part and the Zest Quest team is on hand to support you every step of the way.”
Chef Murray Chapman, Director of Zest Quest Asia added,
“The start of this year’s Zest Quest Asia Tilda Challenge has been such a fantastic experience – because of Covid-19 I’ve been able to spend time on-line. Doing one’s best to encourage and inspire what so far has been over a thousand students and their lecturers on an educational adventure to nine countries across Asia. All I can say is a massive thank you to everyone involved for their attention and enthusiasm. Now we want as many students as possible to prepare to get their entries in, not forgetting rice as a key ingredient. I promise you; you won’t look back.”
Chefs Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala, founders of Zest Quest, are inviting student chefs to share their creations on Facebook or Instagram by Wednesday 24th February 2021 leading up to the Covid-safe live final in March where six finalists will compete for the chance to win a host of inspiring prizes including an exclusive Todiwala Masterclass.
Entrants are asked to create recipes that celebrate the flavourful and authentic world of Asian Cuisine using Tilda’s Speciality Rice Range. All the details on the competition and the criteria are available at www.zestquestasia.org.
To help students plan their winning entries, Tilda Foodservice will continue to offer online tutorials exploring Tilda’s Speciality Range and how to elevate their plates. To be part of this exclusive opportunity, colleges and lecturers are asked to register their interest with Jo Witchell by emailing johanna@tilda.com.
Annette adds:
“These are skills that chefs can take with them beyond college and into their professional careers. We are so pleased to see that 26 colleges from all over the UK have already signed up for our online training sessions and we look forward to seeing more enquiries come in!’
Tilda Foodservice and the Todiwalas are passionate about creating a competition that chefs and colleges will look forward to and get excited about in 2021. Zest Quest Asia was launched to inspire student chefs across the UK to consider Asian cookery as a future career by recognising outstanding talent, knowledge and understanding of the cuisine. The success of the competition encourages colleges to include classical Asian cookery in the curriculum, as well as build on the skills needed for chefs to venture into the Asian food industry.
For more information and to enter the Zest Quest Asia – Tilda Challenge 2021, colleges should visit www.zestquestasia.org. The deadline for entries is Wednesday 24th February 2021. The shortlist will be revealed at the end of February, with the live streamed final taking place on 31st March 2021.
For more information on Zest Quest Asia visit www.zestquestasia.org
For more information on Tilda visit www.tildafoodservice.com
