Daesang Jongga, France and UK Kimchi Cooking Competitions Successfully Concluded
Total of 714 Participants from Around the World Gathered
Daesang announced on the 13th that the Jongga Kimchi Blast Cooking Competition, sponsored by Jongga and jointly hosted by the world-renowned culinary school Le Cordon Bleu, the French AMA Association, and SF Globalize, was successfully held in France and the United Kingdom.
The Jongga Kimchi Blast, held in three countries including France, the UK, and the US, is an event planned to promote the excellence of Jongga Kimchi worldwide and enhance the status of Korea as the homeland of kimchi. The main event, the kimchi cooking competition 'Jongga Kimchi Cook-Off,' has grown with each edition, attracting participants from various regions and establishing itself as a culinary competition spanning across Europe.
Winners and officials of the French Jongga Kimchi Blast Cooking Contest are taking a commemorative photo. [Photo by Daesang]
This year, the Jongga Kimchi Cook-Off held in France attracted 364 applicants, recording a competition rate of 36 to 1. Since the Summer Olympics will be held in Paris next month, recipes inspired by the Olympics or plating decorations related to the Olympics were given additional points.
The final 10 finalists competed on the 11th at the main campus of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. The judging panel included Eric Briffard, one of the three current master chefs in France and principal chef, Fabrice Daniel, vice principal chef, Olivier Guion, a Michelin-starred chef, all top chefs of Le Cordon Bleu Paris, and Jung Joo-hee, president of the AMA Association. They evaluated the dishes from multiple perspectives including creativity, popularity, artistry, and suitability with the main ingredient, kimchi.
The grand prize in the French competition was awarded to Chef Hin Wei Liu for his kimchi tartare, monkfish, rhubarb seasoning, and soy sauce broth, which expressed a feast of the five Olympic ring colors. Second place went to Korean international student Park Jong-hwan for his sashimi dish paired with baek kimchi and skewered grilled meat, and third place was awarded to French chef Guillaume Pajuil for his Olympic squid rings stuffed with radish kimchi. The special Jongga Award was given to Ludovic Fayolle, a chef at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, for his sardine dolma served with baek kimchi and sabayon sauce.
Winners and officials of the Kimchi Blast Cooking Competition at Jongga in London, England, are posing for a commemorative photo. [Photo by Daesang]
Earlier, the UK competition held in London on the 6th attracted 350 participants, recording a competition rate of 35 to 1. The UK competition’s grand prize was unanimously awarded by all four judges for the first time in a British cooking competition to Hayden Wong, a Chinese-British baker, for his potato kimchi croquettes. Second place went to Martina Czerniewska, a Polish-British chef, for her fusion harmony: kimchi embracing goł?bki, and third place to Izabella Kavecka, a Russian-British chef, for solyanka served with kimchi. The Jongga Award was given to Chan Wing Lee, a Chinese-British chef, for his kimchi semifreddo accompanied by pineapple salsa, kimchi pieces, and smoked pancetta.
In October, the Jongga Kimchi Blast will be held in New York, USA, jointly hosted by ICE (Institute of Culinary Education), the Korean Cultural Center in New York, and SF Globalize.
Lee Kyung-ae, head of Daesang Food Global BU, said, "The Jongga Kimchi Blast cooking competition continues to gain enthusiastic momentum year after year, and especially this year, with the Olympics being held in Paris, a variety of artistic and original recipes related to the event were submitted. Jongga Kimchi, which is explosively growing globally, will continue to lead the status of the No.1 brand and the globalization of kimchi through various activities."
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