Ten chefs have emerged as finalists for the Lagos State Government final culinary food cooking competition tagged Eko Flavours.
The 10 finalists would battle for N10million and other consolation prizes during the Eko Flavours Cooking competition organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems in conjunction with the Tantacom Group.
The finalists are Badejo Oreoluwakitan (chefkitts), Afolabi Abisola (rukybcooks), Isaiah Oyede (Isaiah_chef), Adesanya Abimbola Chiwendu (breezy_kitchen) and Akinnire Oluwadamilare Ezekel (Chefdrey).
Others are Akorede Enitan Olamide (enny_tan_), Sanusi O. Kaothar (kaotharr_), Omobonike Awosanmi (aveonkitchen), Ibidunni Layade (Ibidunnice) and Obodiahi Blessing (beesandbaVer).
The Eko Flavours Project is a culinary platform for food vendors and chefs to showcase their talents in making delightful meals at a budget and interact with food enthusiasts, starting with the shopping process at an organised market.
The competition commenced with entry from 150 participants, out of which 50 contestants were selected for the competition, which commenced last month. The quarter-final and semi-final competition, which lasted for almost six hours, produced 10 finalists.
Speaking during the quarter-final and semi-final competition held at Fresh Food Hub, Idi Oro, Mushin area of Lagos, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, commended the participants for their creativity and innovative ideas in bringing their culinary skills to the fore.
Olusanya said the Eko Flavours competition is not about the best chef but the smartest with out-of-the box initiatives in cooking and presentation of the meals to the judges and live audience.
She said the competition is in line with Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu’s THEMES+ agenda to empower the creative youths to showcase Lagos projects to the global map and ensure food security in the State.
The Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tantacom Group, Mrs. Jennifer Odufuwa, said all the contestants had lived up to expectations, and they all displayed their cooking skills during the competition.
She commended the six judges for doing a good job in selecting the 10 finalists out of the 20 people who participated in the quarter-final and semi-final of the food competition, saying the selection process was fair and transparent.
Also speaking, one of the judges, who is a certified chef, Mr. Adeyinka Arije, commended the participants, who are mostly youths, for their tenacity and encouraged them not to lose focus but to garner the knowledge gained from the competition to break barriers in the culinary industry and be self-reliant.
The 10 finalists were full of excitement making the list of those who will compete in the final of the food competition, comprising eight females and two males.
The winner of the final competition holding tomorrow, Saturday, at Fresh Food Hub, Idi-Oro, will be crowned Eko Flavours Champion Ambassador for one year with N5 million naira cash reward, while the second position goes home with N3 million naira and the third wins N1 million with many consolation prizes for other contestants.