Ten finalists have emerged for the final of the Eko Flavours cooking competition which ended on Thursday night.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that after a keenly contested quarter and semi finals of the competition involving 20 chefs, the following 10 chefs emerged for the final taking place on Saturday.
They included: Badejo Oreoluwakitan (chefkitts), Afolabi Abisola (rukybcooks), Isaiah Oyede (Isaiah_chef), Adesanya Abimbola Chiwendu (breezy_kitchen) and AkinniWre Oluwadamilare Ezekel (Chefdrey)
Others included: Akorede Enitan Olamide (enny_tan_, Sanusi O. Kaothar (kaotharr_), Omobonike Awosanmi (aveonkitchen), Ibidunni Layade (Ibidunnice) and Obodiahi Blessing (beesandbaVer)
Speaking during the Quarter and Semi finals competition held at Fresh Food Hub, Idi Oro, Mushin area of Lagos State, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms Abisola Olusanya, commended the participants for their creativity and innovative ideas in bringing their culinary skills to 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 the 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 Commissioner thanked the 10 finalists for a good job and urged them to put in there very best for the final leg of the competition.
“For the other 10 that were not choosing, Lagos State Government has something in store for you,” Olusanya said.
She also commended the judges for doing a good job.
The commissioner thanked the entire audience who remained back till the end of the competition.
Also speaking, the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tantacom Group, Mrs. Jennifer Odufuwa, said the contestants had lived up to expectations.
She also commended the Judges for selecting 10 finalists who will compete for the N10million cash prizes and other consolation prizes to the participants.
Speaking to journalists during the competition, one of the judges, who is a certified Chef, Mr Adeyinka Arije, commended the participants who are mostly youths for their tenacity.
Arije encouraged them not to lose focus but garnered the knowledge gained from the competition to break barriers in the culinary industry and be self reliant.
The 10 finalists are going to 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.
NAN reports that ‘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 were selected for the competition which commenced last month.
The quarter and semi final competition, which lasted for almost six hours produced 10 finalists.
The winner of the final competition tomorrow Saturday, 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.
