Hilton Nay Pyi Taw’s chef and two barmen won four out of the seven silver medals that the Myanmar delegation brought home from the recently held Asian Food Festival and Battle of the Chefs 2016 in Penang, Malaysia, according to a September 7 press release.
Chef Zin Maw Win of Hilton Nay Pyi Taw bagged a silver medal in the individual category for his salmon main course prepared in two ways: A sublime pan seared salmon glazed with butter and lime; and an exquisite sous vide salmon with olive oil, mushroom tortellini, sweet corn pudding, butter poached vegetables and citrus cream sauce.
Chef Zin Maw, who scored 86 marks in the individual competition, just four points shy of a gold medal, was also part of the team that won a silver medal in the Western fine-dining category. Chef Zin Maw, together with Hilton Nay Pyi Taw barmen Zwel MahnOo and Naing Lin Aung, teamed up with Le Planteur Chef Zin Myo Nwe and barman Kyaw Kyaw to create a stellar five-course menu for 13 people, within four hours.
“It was a great experience and an honor to compete with the best chefs in Asia. There are many young chefs in Myanmar who have the potential to succeed anywhere in the world. I hope this win inspires them to excel and that we would win a gold medal next time,” Chef Zin Maw said.
A passionate cook since he was young, Chef Zin Maw went abroad when he was 18 years old to pursue his dream of becoming a chef. After training, he spent almost 10 years in Dubai working at some of the city’s most prestigious hotels. He came back to Myanmar and joined Hilton Nay Pyi Taw in 2016, working as an executive sous chef specializing in Asian and Western hot and cold food.
“Myanmar chefs truly have what it takes to conquer the culinary world. We at Hilton Nay Pyi Taw are very proud to have some of the best food & beverage talents in the region. We are committed to support them all the way so they can further develop their skills and be as creative as they want to be,” said Helen Jacobe, general manager of Hilton Nay Pyi Taw.
More than 1600 chefs participated at the Asian Food Festival and Battle of the Chefs 2016. The Myanmar Chef Association supported a total of 14 chefs from Inle (Pristine Lotus), Mandalay (Shwe Ingynn and Hot Pot), Nay Pyi Taw (Hilton) and Yangon (Le Planteur and Sedona) to take part in the festival.
Chef Zin Maw and four other chefs from Myanmar have been invited to compete in the Culinary Olympics in Germany in October.