The New Nation - Internet Edition

The Monitor-Malaysian Palm Oil Chef of the Year 2007 competition was formally launched on November 8, 2007. It was disclosed at a press conference the same day.

The Bangladesh Monitor, which has been organising the competition for the past two years, is joined by Malaysian Palm Oil Council this time as the Title Sponsor, while Emirates Airline acting as the Premium Partner. Kazi Wahidul Alam, Editor, The Bangladesh Monitor, fonnally launching this year's competition said, "We are holding the Chef of the Year 2007 competition for the third time to present before the nation and the world, the varied cuisines of Bangladesh as well as to discover and foster local talents."

AKM Fakhrul Alam, Country Manager, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Hanif Zakaria, Area Manager, Emirates Bangladesh and Eminent Nutritionist Siddiqua Kabir, Chairman of the Jury Committee of the competition, were also present at the conference among others.

Kazi Wahidul Alam, also Chairman of the competition said, "This competition officially commences from today and interested participants can send their entries up to December 20, 2007."

The competition is divided into two categories: Professional Chef and Amateur Chef. Housewives or any person interested in cooking can participate in the Amateur group. Chefs working in hotels, restaurants, catering or any organisation involved in preparation of foods can participate in the Professional group, he said.

All recipes should be authentic Bangladeshi dishess made of vegetable, fish or meat items and the ingredients used for cooking the dishes should be locally available. One contestant can submit more than one recipe and each recipe should be quantified for six persons. Participation in the competition is open and there will be no entry fee, he said.

All participants should clearly write or computer type either in English or Bangla, name of the dish and the ingredients to be used in A-4 size paper d should send their entries to the office of The Bangladesh Monitor, City Heart, 9th Floor, 67 Naya Paltan, Dhaka-1000 within December 20, 2007. Another A-4 size paper should contain the name profession, contact details and a passport size photograph of the contestant, he said.

New innovative recipes will be given preference, while judging the entries. The jury board will primarily judge all entries and will select five top recipes from Professional category and five top recipes from Amateur category. These ten top entrants will be invited for the final competition at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel in January 2008. They will cook their recipes in front of the distinguished guests and the Jury board will select one winner each from Professional category and Amateur category, who will be named as Monitor Malaysian Palm Oil Chef of the Year 2007.

Each winner will be awarded a Tk. 10,000.00 each prize, a crest and a host of prizes. All other finalists will also be receiving prizes as well. The award giving ceremony will be held in presence of distinguished guests.

Malaysian Palm Oil Council will also be promoting this event through its distributors and dealers all over the country.