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COMPETITION DETAILS

YOUNG CHEF INDIA

FINDING THE BEST YOUNG CULINARY STUDENT TO REPRESENT INDIA AT THE GLOBAL YOUNG CHEF OLYMPIAD 2026

COMPETITION DETAILS

For the purposes of eligibility to compete in the Young Chef Olympiad 2026, a “student”  must be EITHER enrolled on a full time Certificate/Diploma programme or Undergraduate degree programme OR be a registered Chef Apprentice studying on a regular weekly basis at a College or University on a recognised National Professional Crafts programme in the Country being represented. All students must be aged between 18 and 23 on the 1st. of February 2026. A full-time programme should require a minimum of 12 hours class contact per week over a standard academic year. It is permissible for a student to be working part time in industry whilst studying. The student’s Institute/College/University will be required to provide signed proof of student matriculation and a signed statement by the student confirming their full-time status will need to be submitted at the time of registration. A photograph (head and shoulders) of the student will also need to be submitted with the application. A student on a post graduate programme is not eligible to enter the competition.”

DETAILS OF COMPETITION TO FIND REPRESENTATIVE OF INDIA

Preliminary Round

Each student entrant to create an “innovative” Main course dish for 02 (TWO) people and appropriate for service in a fine dining restaurant. The dish style has to be Pan-Indian. The details of this dish should be submitted in the following formats on the following Google drive:

  1. Either word or PDF format and should show:
    Well-presented recipe (including any sub-recipes) detailing all ingredients and method of production. The recipes must also state the nutritional analysis and the number of calories per portion.
  2. Photographs of the finished dish and the various stages in the preparation cooking and service.
  3. A 2-minute short video about the preparation process of the dish.

Marks will be awarded for:

  1. The originality of the dish – 20 marks
  2. Recipe detail and method – 20 marks
  3. Nutritional analysis – 20 marks
  4. Photographs & video of the preparation, cooking, serving and presentation – 30 marks
  5. Creative choice and use of ingredients – 10 marks
    Total 100 marks

The best 40 entries of India will then be invited to prepare cook and serve the same dish in front of a panel of judges, at the IIHM campuses across India for the Qualifier round.

ROUND 2 – Qualifier Round

Before competing in the practical competitions each entrant will be sent a list of small and large equipment provided at the competition venue.
For this Round, a full list of the ingredients and quantities required for 04 (FOUR) portions has to be submitted at least two weeks prior to the competition day to a designated drive.

Time allowed one and half hours (90 minutes)

Marks will be awarded for:

Hygiene, health and safety practice – 10 marks
Method of work, technical skills and cooking techniques – 30 marks
Best use of ingredients – 10 marks
Adherence to submitted recipe – 10 marks
Presentation – 10 marks

Taste, flavour and portion control – 20 marks
Time management 10 marks
Total 100 marks

The best 8 competitors will be invited to a Final Round involving 2 stages.

ROUND 3 – FINAL

Stage 1:

Before competing in this Final Round, a list of small and large equipment being provided at the competition venue will be sent to each Finalist.

Each Finalist will be required to demonstrate their Knife skills by preparing and presenting within 30 minutes from unprepared root vegetables.

  1. 50g of Carrot, sweet potato or turnip cut into Julienne
  2. 50g of Carrot, sweet potato or turnip cut into Brunoise
  3. 50g of Carrot, sweet potato or turnip cut into   Jardiniere
  4. 50g of Carrot, sweet potato or turnip cut into Paysanne
  5. 50g of Carrot, sweet potato or turnip cut into Macedoine

Marks will be awarded for

  1. a) accuracy of weight,
  2. b) avoidance of waste and
  3. c) presentation of cuts.

Time allowed 30 minutes. Failure to complete all tasks will result in no marks being awarded.
All cuts should be clearly labelled.

Stage 2:

Bone a whole 1.5 KG clean chicken into 4 portions and create a chicken dish from a mystery basket of ingredients.

Each Finalist will have 30 minutes to look at the ingredients and create, prepare, cook, and serve the dish.
The cuts of vegetables prepared in the skills test should be used (wholly or partially) in the preparation of the dish.

Time allowed from the start 1 and a half hours

Marks will be awarded for:

Hygiene, health and safety – 10 marks
Method of work, organisation and technical skills – 20 marks
Cooking skills and creative use of ingredients – 25 marks
Taste and flavour , portion control – 25 marks
Presentation – 10 marks
Time management -10 marks
Total 100
Any Finalist who fails to complete stage 2 in the permitted time will not be in the first 2 to represent India

 

General Guidelines

  1. There is No Participation Fees for this event
  2. Colleges can nominate more than one student for the first round. Individual entries are also allowed subjected that they are a student undergoing a Hospitality full time course as per the above given eligibility criteria.
  3. For the Qualifier Round – All Travel and Accommodation to the IIHM Campus cities will have to be borne by the competitors/college participating in the India Qualifiers.
  4. For the Final Round in Kolkata – All Travel and Accommodation to Kolkata will have to be borne by the competitors/college participating. The Winner of the Final Round and Runner up will be trained in Kolkata for over a month under the guidance of the IIHM Chefs.
  5. All the Accommodation and daily subsistence for the Winner and Runner up for the practices that will happen in Kolkata will be taken care by IIHM.
  6. Any accompanying faculty/parent in any round will have to make their own arrangements for their travel, accommodation, and daily subsistence.
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