Xavier D’Cruz, a demi chef de partie from the private dining restaurant The Edge, has walked away with the '2008 Middle East Junior Chef of the Year' award, organised by the Emirates Culinary Guild as part of the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) celebrations.

Xavier, from India, bagged gold medals in three categories - the Five Course Gourmet Menu, Live Cooking (Fish), and Live Cooking (Beef or Lamb) – to seal the contest.

The Emirates Culinary Guild plays an important role in gathering chefs from all over the GCC for an exciting culinary extravaganza.

D'Cruz received the awards amid thuderous applause from hundreds of onlookers at the Times Square Center, which hosted the week-long event.

When asked how he felt on winning the coveted honour, Xavier replied, “The number of participating chefs is by itself an indication of the popularity and esteem the event has across the GCC and to win in this culinary exhibition is always a dream for every chef coming here.”

“Every participant in this contest has a mentor and for me, that mentor is certainly Chef Juraj Kalna, executive chef at The Edge. Over the past year, I’ve learnt immensely from him and without his guidance it would have been almost impossible to win this event,” he added.

Ice-carving duo

After having bagged gold in last year’s Team Ice-carving contest, Wanchalerm Sukseekao, a Kitchen Artist at the Jumeirah, Emirates Towers, repeated his wining streak this year as he struck gold again in the extremely popular ice-carving event.

Along with his team mate Chamila Jayasingha of Fairmont Dubai, Wanchalerm displayed his expertise at carving sculptures over six-feet high from blocks of ice.-TradeArabia News Service