Second year of GLAD Arabia Cooking Challenge attracts over 100 entries during its two month Facebook campaign
The winner with her voucher for 2 tickets to Thailand.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 23 June 2013 – The winner of the ‘so you think you can cook’ 2013 GLAD Arabia Cooking Challenge was announced during its live grand finale, yesterday at the Balance Café, Oasis Centre. Azra Razak, a banker by profession, was awarded the best chef of the competition by the judging panel that included Chef Uwe, president of the Emirates Culinary Guild, Chef Bobby Kapoor, a respected and well known chef who judged last year’s competition, and Chef Nouf, renowned chef from Kuwait. Over 100 contestants competed for the grand prize of an all expenses paid Culinary trip for two, to Thailand.
The GLAD Arabia cooking challenge began in April 2013 where food lovers who enjoy cooking were given the chance to upload images of their homemade signature dish on the GLAD Arabia Facebook page. The participants had to gather as many votes as possible from friends and family, with the top 20 contestants entering Round two. Luca Mattei, Sheelu John, Michael Del Dios Belza, Naina Shakeb, Shreekutty Sukumaran and Azra Razak were the top 6 contestants who made it through to the live grand finale.
At the live finale, the contestants were given four mystery ingredients which they used in their final dish. The dishes were judged on taste, aroma, presentation, the use of GLAD products, originality and hygiene.
A very excited Azra Razak was delighted with her victory “It was a great experience to be part of the 2013 GLAD Arabia Cooking Challenge. It has been a lot of fun interacting with the chefs and the other contestants. I have learnt a lot and I have seen myself grow from an amateur in the kitchen who cooked for my family to being winning the title of ‘So you think you can cook?’ chef at this cooking challenge’. I would like to thank GLADArabia for giving us the opportunity to showcase our cooking skills”.
Krishna Kumar, marketing manager GLAD MENA said, “We try our best to engage with our consumers directly as much as we can. The GLAD Arabia Facebook page is a platform where food lovers can engage and enhance their love for food. And the cooking challenge is a good testimony of how GLAD can enhance their food protection and preservation experience. It is all about bringing the consumers, GLAD products and food together in a fun and exciting way”.
George Rechdan brand manager GLAD MENA said,”GLAD keeps good food, good. And the cooking competition showcases and highlights the same”
About the judges:
Chef Uwe is president of the Emirates Culinary Guild. He runs the Shabestan restaurant at the Radisson Blu Hotel Deira Creek and is also the winner of the Time Out Dubai Chef of the Year. Chef Uwe’s expertise includes cooking up a storm in various countries, starting from his homeland in Germany. Chef Bobby Kapoor has written four cookery books, and worked on restaurant and cuisine concepts in various countries including Malaysia and Mauritius. Chef Bobby and Chef Uwe are the consultant chefs on the GLAD Cooking Challenge for the second consecutive year, and has shared their expertise across to creating the final competition. Chef Nouf who is a very renowned chef from Kuwait who has a strong knowledge and passion for cooking.
About GLAD
GLAD, which is part of Clorox International Company, is a reputed brand with superior quality and benefit which helps the consumer in preserving the freshness of home cooked food thereby improving their food protection needs. GLAD is present across the food wraps & bags category with cling wrap, aluminum foil, freezer bags, storage bags, sandwich bags (open and resealable) garbage bags and others, with presence across the MENA region
GLAD believes the best food is your home food, the food you prepare and serve your family. Whether it’s fresh, made from scratch, or assembled from pre bought ingredients, it’s the best because you’re in control of the variables (what it is, where it came from and, to a degree, the nutritional value) and you can make the best decisions for your family. Whatever the meal is, you want it to be the best it can be. So we’re there with you every step of the way, protecting the goodness of food.
