It may have been his first-ever culinary arts competition, but that didn’t stop Kiwi-Indian chef Chetan Saini from making it into the top three at the prestigious Australasia Tapas Competition over the weekend.
Held at Ignite Skills cookery school in Manukau, the event saw 28 talented chefs from both sides of the Tasman battle it out for the grand title of Australasia Tapas Champion, and the chance to represent the region at the World Tapas Competition in Spain later this year.
Chetan’s crispy potato and smoked kahawai brandade dish was a show-stopper, topped off with kawakawa emulsion and beetroot caviar, and served in a smoked-filled bespoke box. It earned him third place overall, and high praise from the judges, including celebrity chef Peter Gordon who described his creation as “fantastic”.
Currently a sous chef at Michael Meredith’s acclaimed restaurant Mr. Morris, Chetan has been in the industry for eight years, and jumped at the chance to showcase his skills at this year’s competition.
“I really tried to showcase New Zealand natives in my tapas dish – kahawai, manuka and kawakawa,” he says. “The event was a lot of fun and I’ll definitely continue doing more competitions in the future,” he says.
“My favourite part was seeing all the competing chefs’ hard work and creations on the plate. Placing in the top three in this competition means a lot to me, and my goal is to one day represent New Zealand in Spain at the World Tapas Competition.”
This year that honour went to Paris Butter head chef Zach Duxfield, whose sensational ‘mince and mushrooms on toast’ earned him the opportunity to compete against the best on the planet at Valladolid City Hall in Spain from November 11 to 13. Executive Pastry Chef at Pullman Hotel, Manoj Deigiri, came in a close second with his mouth-watering duck liver and chocolate pate, and special awards went to Makarand Karkhanis (Most Fusion Flavour), Jamie Johnston (Most Innovative Tapas), and Melbourne-based chef Miguel Rios (Most Creative Tapas).
Now in its sixth year, the high-pressure Australasia Tapas Competition cook-off gives competitors just 25 minutes to create their tapas dish, which is then presented to a panel of top foodies, including World Tapas Competition Director Angel Moreton and celebrity chefs Peter Gordon, Sid Sahrawat and Simon Gault.
“Every year the dishes get better and better,” says Simon. “In the early days of this competition the dishes were too big, but now chefs are really understanding the concept of tapas, and they are creating incredible dishes that are just one or two bites.”
