Gulfood: Italian chef wins the Gulfood Pasta Challenge

Visitors to the Italian Food Lab, organized by Italian Trade Agency (ITA) at Gulfood, enjoyed the finale of Tuttofood Pasta Challenge

It was a unique pasta making competition that involved participation from multiple Italian restaurants in the UAE and organized in collaboration with Tuttofood Milan Fair and the Emirates Culinary Guild, around the theme of how Italian cuisine connects people.

One of the finalists was Chef Christian Carrieri of La Strega Restaurant at Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa Dubai. Chef Carrieri is from Martina Franca in Southern Italy and worked in Rome and Taranto before coming to Dubai in 2014, where he has worked for several top hotels, including One & Only The Palm, the Grosvenor House, Le Royal Meridien and several restaurants of the Marriott International Group.

The other finalist was Chef Saumya Tamrakar of BiCE Ristorante at Hilton Dubai Jumeirah. Chef Tamrakar is a young professional with a Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts & Chef Training from the Oriental School of Hotel Management, Valley View, Lakkidi, India

The final round will took place on February 23 at 12pm at the Italian Food Lab. Both contestants had 30 minutes to create a pasta dish from scratch.

Chef Saumya opted to make a Lobster Ravioli with mushrooms. Here she is rolling out her pasta dough.

While Chef Christian went bright with a Tagliatelle with Pesto and shrimp tartar.

A special jury composed of H.E. Nicola Lener, Ambassador of Italy to the U.A.E., Amedeo Scarpa, Italian Trade Commissioner/ICE Dubai office; Uwe Micheel, President of The Emirates Culinary Guild and international culinary experts, including famous international chefs, choose the winner, who will get a sponsored trip to next edition of Tuttofood fair in Milan.

The crowds gathered in a socially distanced manner to watch the two chefs complete their dishes.

Pasta is so popular in the UAE that in the first 11 months of 2020, despite the general decrease of Italian agri-food exports to the UAE due to the pandemic, pasta imports went up by 30 per cent.

Although Chef Christian had more points for his dish, both chefs were awarded the grand prize trip to Milan for the Tuttofood fair in October this year.