Young chef from Singapore wins tapas contest in Spain

A young chef from Singapore, Teo Jun Xiang won the VII International Tapas Competition, which was held in the Spanish city of Valladolid on Monday and Tuesday.

Xiang's winning tapas was called "3 in 1, Zamoran rice, chorizo with potatoes and egg".

A number of 12 competitors from some 10 countries took part in the tournament, which was the highlight of the eighth edition of the Spanish Gastronomy Training Program, organized by the Spanish Institute of External Commerce (ICEX).

The competition gave the chefs the perfect opportunity to put into practice all they had learned during the program, with the jury, not only judging their creations on the techniques used to make them, but also on how closely they fit the concept of tapas.

A Spanish tapas is a small dish, traditionally served with a glass of wine or sherry, but the concept has developed in recent years to such a level that some tapas are small, but perfect works of culinary art.

This year's jury was made up of Rafael Anson, the President of the Spanish Royal Academy of Gastronomy, and Ines Menendez de Luarca, the Director of the Food and Gastronomy Division of the ICEX Spain department of export and investment, among others.

The 12 finalists in Valladolid were chosen from a total of 69 applications from 22 nations and they had to follow a long road in order to reach the city in the north of Spain, following an intense course in Spanish gastronomy, developed by the Valladolid International Cookery School (EIC), along with a Spanish language course.

They then travelled to different regions of Spain for hands-on experience at top level restaurants for three months before finally carrying out a tour of Spain to better get to know the products, providers and markets in order to gather first-hand knowledge of the produce on offer and how best to use them. Endit