Twelve female chefs yesterday competed for a culinary scholarship to Le Cordon Bleu Sookmyung Academy in Seoul in South Korea next year.

This was at the Denarau Convention Centre during the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association HOTEC Tradeshow.

Organised by The Coliseum, Master Class Fiji gave out an opportunity to young females with an objective to promote gender balance.

Director Valentin Chorchado believe that with the right level of education, skills and opportunity women can equally run a kitchen or even better than men.

“We love females and they have a lot of interest in culinary role and they  always do extremely well,” he said.

“We want to promote gender balance.

At times when the young ladies gets married they never come back to the industry, he says.

“We like to see more females in leadership roles so we want them to always come back and use their skills.”

With the scholarship, Mr Chorchado said is a great opportunity to learn and experience new things.

He said that Asia is a great place to learn, especially with the new trends and changes in foods and dishes.

“We already have great talents and chef from Australia and New Zealand. So choosing Asia is a great idea, he said.

“I think in statistics, Asia is here so the efficiency and the position of Asian market is a must.”

Being part of the competition also gives an opportunity to take away something new even if you don’t win the scholarship, says Mr Chorchado.

About the competition:

The girls watched as International Master Chef Patissier Amanda Young demonstrates how Choc Mousses desert is done.

They will then duplicate the desert and are given 1hr and 20 minutes to complete. The judges will make their rounds during the competition.

It is the first time The Colliseum is part of HOTEC Tradeshow.

“This is a good platform to showcase what we have,” Mr Chorchado said.

The winner will be announced today.