Australia represented by Richard Ousby

Australia represented by Richard Ousby from Quay Restaurant at The S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup

Electrolux Young Chef of the Year, Richard Ousby from Sydney’s famed Quay Restaurant (No. 29 in the 50 Best Restaurant List sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna) will represent Australia in the world’s most unique cooking competition – The S.Pellegrino Venice Cooking Cup. On the eve of the Cooking Cup, Richard Ousby commented “My food philosophy centres on sourcing the best local produce available in any season, preparing it in new and exciting ways utilising classical techniques while maximising the experience of food.”

The 12th edition of the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup will take place on the scenic Venetian Lagoon on 22 and 23 June, uniting two Italian passions in a single event – sailing and fine dining. For years this unique regatta, organised in collaboration with the historic Venice Yacht Club Compagnia della Vela, has attracted sailors, chefs and fine dining lovers from around the world.

During this 12-mile race from the Lido of Venice to the Island of San Giorgio, 50 boats with seasoned crews and talented young chefs will embark on an exciting, no-holds-barred challenge to display the best gastronomic ability and sailing skills. While sailors and skippers are busy on deck, each chef will be busy in the galley preparing their special dishes. The results will be judged by an esteemed jury of renowned chefs and gastronomes.

S.Pellegrino’s ‘Inside the Cooking’ is a competition within a competition. This race involves ten boats and crews; each boat represents a country from a Sanpellegrino international zone. This year, countries from these zones include Italy, China, Belgium, Luxembourg, Australia, Russia, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Sweden.

In a new twist, this year’s chefs must prepare a recipe using the ingredients from a “Mystery Basket”, selected by ALMA, the International School of Italian Cuisine founded by Gualtiero Marchesi.

At race’s end on Saturday, each chef will present their dish to the Jury who will evaluate it according to four criteria: presentation, difficulty of execution, taste and pairing with wine and water. Each chef must suggest the best water to accompany the dish, whether it is S.Pellegrino, the bright, sparkling water or Acqua Panna, the smooth, light, velvety water. These votes are added to the finish time of each boat to determine the winner of the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup and the winner of ‘Inside the Cooking competition’.

All awards – S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup, Inside the Cooking, Acqua Panna and S.Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year 2012 and People’s Choice will be announced on Saturday 23 June during the Awards Ceremony, which will be held after the Gala dinner at the Giorgio Cini Foundation on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore.

On the eve of the regatta, the ten zonal chefs compete to win the prestigious Acqua Panna & S.Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year 2012 Award. This competition will take place at the Hilton Molino Stucky Hotel on Friday 22 June. Each Chef must prepare their “signature dish” for both guests and jury to taste. The Jury will assign scores to determine the winner.

This year’s Jury comprises:

• Mauro Colagreco, Mirazur, France – No. 24 World’s 50 Best Restaurants sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
• Massimo Bottura, Osteria Francescana, Italy – No 5 World’s 50 Best Restaurants sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna
• Luke Dale Roberts, The Test Kitchen, Cape Town – No 74 World’s 50 Best List sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
• Daniel Berlin, Swedish winner of the Young Chef of the Year Award at the 2011 edition of the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup.
• Dmitry Shurhsakov, Chaika Restaurant, Russia – No. 99 World’s 50 Best Restaurants sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
• Sergio Herman, Oud Sluis, Netherlands – No. 21 World’s 50 Best Restaurants sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
• Jonny Gu, Chinese chef and outstanding representative of Singaporean cuisine;
• Franco Favaretto, chef at Baccaladivino di Mestre in Venice, Italy.
• Francesca Barberini – TV presenter and writer will preside over the jury.

Sanpellegrino S.p.A. strives internationally to uphold its commitment to enhance and consolidate fine dining culture at a global level and to promote emerging talents: The S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup once again unites the best young talents in the world of haute cuisine in the Venetian Lagoon – chefs that will give us all something to talk about in the future.

To share in the excitement leading up to the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup, and keep up with Award-related happenings and participant news, tune into finedininglovers.com – the web community for food enthusiasts from all over the world, proudly endorsed by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna natural mineral waters. The site will play host to special editorial content, photography and videos of the chefs and the protagonists of the event.

Source: EatDrink.com.au, 13 June 2012