Singaporean chef tops Young Chef Olympiad in India

Homegrown chef Mathew Tham, 24, has been named the champion of the third edition of the international IIHM Young Chef Olympiad 2017. PHOTO: AT-SUNRICE GLOBALCHEF ACADEMY

The Singapore flag continues to fly high on the world culinary stage.

A week after a team of Singapore chefs returned from cooking competitions in Lyon, France - such as the prestigious Bocuse d'Or - homegrown chef Mathew Tham, 24, was named the champion of the third edition of the international IIHM Young Chef Olympiad 2017.

IIHM is the International Institute of Hotel Management, which has campus locations in Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, and Bangkok, Thailand.

Held from Jan 27 to Feb 2 across four cities in India, the competition is organised in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism - a branch of the Government of India - to create an international platform for young chefs.

Mr Tham, an At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy student, was also awarded the Best Food Safety title. He was formerly a team member of the Singapore National Junior Culinary Team for the Alen Thong Golden Coffee Pot Young Chef Challenge 2016 in Abu Dhabi, where the Singapore team also came in first place.

For the IIHM Young Chef Olympiad, he prepared five dishes, including butternut squash doughnut filled with caramelised onion royale, with chickpea tuile and topped with a quenelle of spinach, mushroom and feta cheese; and poached bekti fish with glazed vegetables and white wine sauce scented with ginger and soya sauce.

On the competition, Mr Tham says: "It was a very good experience and I am very grateful for the training support I received from my mentors at the At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy."

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