Journey to SuperChef Title - Final Cookout

This is in continuation of my previous post of SuperChef Chennai - Semi Finals. After getting the SuperChef Chennai Finalist Apron, I did celebrate a bit with my sister. But more important was for me to get ready for the Ultimate Cook Off Finals. 

This was the most exciting part that I was waiting for. Cooking in a live kitchen. It was a motivating factor for me from the beginning to be at the kitchen of park, cook from its pantry. I was sure it will be a different and a wonderful experience. 

A huge clock was used to keep a tab on the time allocated for us. 

Work stations

Mixers and Deep friers

Ovens for use

Whippers

Plates in various shapes and sizes. I love white plates. I loved all the plates they had provided but my choice was a long rectangular one. 

A pantry that had all FRESH Herbs, veggies, cheese, spices. For any cook I would say, a well stocked pantry is bliss. So was it for me too. 

We were given a brief introduction about what was there in the pantry and how we should go about making the dish. The rules were, we should make an appetizer using the secret ingredients that will be given to us. We were given three ingredients and were supposed to use at-least two of them in our dish

As we settled in our work stations,Farheen requested each of the finalist to give a brief introduction about us.

Me giving the introductory talk

The vegetarians were given Zucchini, Jalapeno and French Bread while the non vegetarians were given  Chicken, Prawn and Olives

I stared for a good 5 minutes at the ingredients given to me and then decided to make Zucchini Jalapeno cheese balls stuffed with red pepper , served on a bed of capsicum salad served with a minty dip

Mentor chefs were there to help us with our cooking. 

Sauteing veggies, zucchini for the cheese balls and red pepper to be blended

Making bread crumbs from the french bread given to us

A section of the audience who were supporting the contestants. 

Well looks like Farheen , Gunit , Tarla Dalal and Vicky Ratani having a serious discussion.

Tarla Dalal, walked upto my workstation and asked what I was making,she was pretty excited to hear my dish

Frying the cheese balls

Cheese balls in the making

My Wall.. My Support . Tasneem Aunty . Love you so much aunty for all the love and support you give me. She was there encouraging me, telling me that how much time has gone by and more than the most. She was very very confident that I will win the competition.I am so glad , that I lived up to her belief in me.

After I had finished cooking.

Zucchini Jalapeno cheese balls stuffed with red pepper , served on a bed of capsicum salad

Waiting for our names to be called, to present our dish to the panel of judges.

My dish before the judges. There were five judges, Vicky Ratani, Ace Food Photographer Priya, Tarla Dalal, Chef Rajesh and Chef Archana

Words of the judges : Tarla Dalal : Impressive Presentation

Chef Rajesh and Chef Archana : Very Tasty

Vicky Ratani Tasting the cheese balls

Photographer Priya, takes a closer look at the dish

Twelve finalists pose as the judges have a discussion about their final choice for the title winner 

With the judges before the top three dishes were named. 

The names were read in a random order, as the organizers wanted to keep the surprise till the dinner party. 

My name was read at the last. I had to wait for another 8 hours to know which place I got. 

All said I was very very happy at that moment that I was one of the top three. I missed my mom and dad , who were not in Chennai at point of time. 

The same day, before dinner, when the results were announced, I was thrilled to know that I topped the Appetizer Category. My Chitappa, Chithi and sister was there to support me. They were so so happy to see me receive the first place. My mom was an important person who motivated me completely and believed that I will win from the very minute I entered the competition

After the results were announced, I had a chance to talk to Chef  Rajesh, Chef Archana and Chef Santosh. All of them , said that the taste of my dish was very good, and that is the reason my dish was able to beat the non vegetarian dishes. They also said that , they could see the passion I had for cooking from the way I handled the dish and the way I speak about food. 

This was the best gift I could ever get. These compliments mean a lot to me. 

Never to forget , my group of girls Deeps, Arthi. Jenny, Tasneem Akbari, Avanti, Yalini, Preethika and Aunty who were completely online in whatsapp checking the results. Everybody were waiting with baited breath to know who the winner was, they all were super thrilled so much as I was. thanks girls for the support and love you shower me with.

Many thanks to the judges and sponsors for this wonderful event. Thanks MCLC 38 for providing a wonderful platform to unleash our talent.