Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef crowns winner
As the dust finally settled on one of the most heated kitchen competitions in the country today, one chef stood tall. Ayesha Siddiqui Pinky, hailing from Dhaka and having grown up in far flung corners of the world, had used her collective wealth of culinary knowledge to win the top prize. She was declared to be 2017's Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef. But it had come down right to the wire. Ttwo votes separated the winner from the runner's up.
“I am very sad that I could not be the Super Chef. But it was very wonderful to be here,” Shampa Rahman, the runner's up, said. Her journey so far had indeed been a rewarding one. Having amassed three badges along with the first immunity pin which sealed her as the best among the rest, that Shampa would go very far into the competition was never ever in doubt. However, even the best fall down sometime and perhaps that is what happened on the final day of the competition.
Ayesha Siddiqui Pinky, on the other hand, was another top favourite owing to the five pins proving her victory in five different aspects of the competition. The world-traveller, Aysha used her diverse culinary experience to remain in pole position, regardless of what was thrown at her. Her innovation also made her quite the threat for other participants but it was her confidence that helped her to secure the title of Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef. “Pre-planning in such a competition is very hard because you never know what is coming. You have to trust your instinct,” she said. She lived up to her words, always trusting her instinct and was always rewarded for the risks that she took.
Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef is considered to be one of Bangladesh's biggest culinary competitions. This year around, the fourth edition of the competition spanned all over the country, holding 17 regional rounds. Over 2000 participants took part in the competition with a choice few making the cut for the competition proper after the culmination of the auditions rounds. Those that made the cut were put through grueling tests that were designed to push their culinary knowledge and their endurance to the limit. Participants constantly found themselves in various pressure-cooker situations, with mistakes proving costly enough to merit elimination.
For the Grand Finale of Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef, the pressure was turned on from the start. As the saying goes, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife, but unless one could wield it with style, there would be no point in this competition. That's how much every aspect of cooking matters in this tournament. Ayesha Siddiqui and Shampa Rahman were first invited to the front and given two options; Set A and Set B. Each set contained a number of ingredients that would have to be used to prepare a four course meal. Set A was revealed to them while Set B was not. The idea was that if one chose Set A, they would go and use it to prepare their meal but if they wanted they could see Set B. However, seeing Set B was akin to choosing Set B and there would be no turning back.
Both the participants opted for Set A which consisted of two main ingredients, shrimp and duck. The shrimp would be used to make one important side dish and the duck would be used to make the main dish. Apart from these, there would be an appetiser and a dessert item. The participants were given 40 minutes for the appetiser, 35 minutes for the shrimp, 50 minutes for the main course and 40 minutes for the dessert. The two then finished each course and presented them to the judges who voted each dish separately. With each dish, the voting process became more unpredictable. In the end, it came down to a mere difference of two votes with 9 votes for Pinky and 7 for Shampa. And with that, Pinky realised that she had done it and in the process had become a part of Super Chef history.
Ayesha Siddiqui's victory meant she received the Super Chef crest along with the prize money of Tk 10 lac. Shampa Rahman, the first runner's up, received a crest and the prize money of Tk 5 lac whilst Maymuna Akter, who came third, was eliminated in the last round, received a crest and prize money to Tk 3 lac. “We did four consecutive seasons and for that I am very happy. Sustaining a show in the long run was our objective and every year we see a major difference,” Faisal Mahmud, Marketing Manager of Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited said. “Participants now approach the show differently and more professionally. The improvement is remarkable. Plus, this year we brought in a huge number of diverse professionals from the chef of Manhattan Fish Market to a caterer, increasing the show's diversity,” he said.
While this year's competition left a huge mark on the audience, the next edition of the competition can be expected to be bigger and better.
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