Three female participants were selected in the regional audition round of Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef 2016 held in Zilla Parishad Community Center of Rangpur city yesterday.

Rupchanda, the flagship brand of Bangladesh Edible Oil Ltd (BEOL), and The Daily Star jointly organised the competition to seek out extraordinary culinary talents.

Initially, 15 were selected from among 83 participants, including 17 male contestants, through written tests. Later, each of the 15 was given Tk 500 and one and a half hours to buy ingredients from an adjacent market and prepare their dishes.

Of the three who got Yes cards, Shampa, of Keranipara area, and Dilruba Khanam Diba, of Kamarpara area, are housewives, and Taslima Akhter, of Shapla Chattar area, runs a boutique shop.

They will compete in the final round to be held in the capital. This was the first time that a regional audition was held in Rangpur and a good number of participants came from different districts like Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Dinajpur.

Rangpur saw a huge response, in fact better than other regional rounds, said the organisers.

All the 15 received certificates. Farhana Akhtar, winner of Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef 2014, and Nadim Sarker, second runner-up of this year's completion judged the audition round.

Sabrin Maruf, brand executive of BEOL, attended the programme.