United Tastes of America - Asian Chef Challenge II Taking Applications Now

PR-1539E | Date: 08/26/2015

The Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) of the American Institute in Taiwan, in conjunction with the U.S. Meat Export Federation and numerous U.S. producer associations, cordially invites professional chefs from across Taiwan to participate in the United Tastes of America - Asian Chef Challenge II.

The objective of the contest is to challenge professional chefs in a competitive environment to utilize an assortment of fresh and high quality U.S. food ingredients to formulate and prepare a superlative meal. Both the preliminary and final competition will require contestants to work under the pressure of a time limit to create a four-course menu using U.S. ingredients from a mandatory list.

All interested chefs are welcome to send their applications by registered mail to: 11F, No. 139, Sec. 2, Fu Xing S. Rd. (attention "Task Force: United Tastes of America -Asian Chef Challenge") before October 19, 2015, to be considered for entry in Taipei's preliminary competition on November 16, 2015. The winning team from Taipei’s preliminary competition will be eligible to compete for the championship at the grand finale on March 23, 2016, at Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo. In addition, Taipei preliminary winning chefs will receive a Millie Award, which includes a one-week culinary and farm experience trip to the United States, sponsored by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.

To download the application form, please go to the official Facebook page “United Tastes of America - Asian Chef Challenge.” The pre-competition seminar will be hosted by head judge Alan Palmer at the Victoria Hotel in Taipei at 1:30 pm on September 1, 2015. An initial screening review of applications will determine the sixteen teams entered in the preliminary competition for Taiwan, which is scheduled on November 16, 2015 at Taipei Kai-Ping Culinary School. The criteria for admission in the preliminary competition include one unique recipe that features at least one of the sponsors' ingredients. The seminar and preliminary competition will be managed by Byte-in Integrated Marketing Corp. For more information, please contact Ms. Chao by email at shoujun.chao@jobank.com.tw or phone at (02)2702-5247.

With the support of the respective ATOs, preliminary competitions will also take place in Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and several other cities in China, starting in November 2015. The grand finale competition in Tokyo will determine an overall champion from among the regional winning teams.

The United Tastes of America - Asian Chef Challenge has received generous sponsorship from numerous U.S. food associations, including California Agricultural Export Council, California Milk Advisory Board, California Raisin Administrative Committee, California Table Grape Commission, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Trade and Investment, Ginseng Board of Wisconsin, Idaho Potato Commission, U.S. Grains Council, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, U.S. Potato Board, U.S. High-bush Blueberry Council, U.S. Meat Export Federation, and USA Rice Federation.