Hundreds to Participate in Culinary Arts Competition

More than 900 culinary talents from the western, central, northern and eastern regions will be taking part in the 2025 cycle of the Culinary Arts Competition.

The competition, organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), kicked off on Wednesday, April 9, at the Sean Lavery Faith Hall, Westmoreland.

It will continue on Wednesday, April 16 at Kendal Camp Site and Conference Centre in Manchester and on Friday, May 2, at St Mary’s Anglican Church Hall, in St Mary.

The final competition is on Friday, May 9 at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, in St Andrew.

The competition features 12 categories, including Batters and Doughs, Wedding and Celebration Cakes, Traditional Jamaican Dishes, Preserves and Condiments, Wines and Liqueurs, Knife Skill Techniques, Recipe Writing, Team Challenge, Mystery Basket and Pan Chicken, as well as two new categories, Cupcakes and Cookies Challenge, and Street Food JA.

Each event will feature a food challenge quiz, bun-eating and drinking contests, knife-skill techniques and traditional games.

Culinary Arts Development Specialist at the JCDC, Jane Jerry, told JIS News that the number of participants has grown compared to last year.

She attributed the increase to the involvement of new schools and the introduction of the new categories.

Ms. Jerry also said that a decision was made to include children, aged nine to 14, in the competition, giving them the opportunity to gain culinary experience.

She said that for the Cupcake and Cookies Challenge, participants were asked to incorporate one of Jamaica’s national symbols.

“They don’t just make the cupcakes; they must feature one of the national symbols on the cupcake and another on the cookie,” she explained, adding that it is not just about skill, but also about incorporating the national symbol in their creation.

Speaking about Street Food JA, Ms. Jerry said that the category aims to elevate the craft of street food vendors.

“Sometimes the jerk vendors on the corner are overlooked. I want to include them so people can see what they are doing and I want to lift the standards of their presentation,” she said.

Ms. Jerry explained that each participant will select three items from a list of popular street foods, including chicken neck, yam, shrimp, breadfruit, fried dumpling, soup crab, corn, festival, fish and bammy.

They will have one hour to prepare and present their dishes for judging.

“The judges will assess their presentation, sanitation and how they handle the ingredients just to impress the judges,” she added.

She noted that this year, the carrot will take centre stage as the featured ingredient and vendors will be encouraged to incorporate it in their dishes.