Sixteen teams will take part in this year?s Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) Black Box Culinary Challenge. This global event promoting the novel cuisine of the future is the fourth held in Mauritius. The Hilton Resort & Spa will host the two-day event culminating in a gala dinner on 30th May. 300 guests are expected to witness the young chefs show their talent and compete for the MLA Black Box Culinary Trophy.

The first edition of this competition was held in 1996 in Bali to provide an international forum for promising young chefs to express their creativity and innovation with high quality ingredients. The idea came from a conversation beside a turquoise sea on a brazen beach between a representative of Australia?s red meat industry, a gourmet supplier and a chef. Together they devised the MLA Black Box Culinary Challenge. Since the first challenge, over 1,900 young chefs have demonstrated their talents at over 50 events in 14 countries.

Black Box with mystery ingredients

This year, on the first day of the event, Tuesday, 29th May, 16 teams of different hotels and the Hotel School will be given a Black Box filled with mystery ingredients including Australian beef or lamb, seafood, fruit and vegetables, spices and dairy products. These teams consist of three members aged under 30 years, led by a team captain, all coming from leading hotels, restaurants and culinary schools.

Members of each team are given one hour to develop a four-course menu with all the ingredients contained in the box. The completed meal will then be judged by a panel of international chefs on the criteria of taste, skill, creativity and artistic merit at the Gala Dinner on the 30th. The teams will also be judged on their creative skills to set up an elegant table display. ?Apart from paying tribute to the skill of the young chefs, the Black Box competition is an event for the services industry leaders and food lovers to celebrate the appreciation of food through good will,? the organisers commented. Good luck to all the chefs!