Debe Chen (left) and Virginia Burke, participants in the Seafood from Norway Culinary Challenge 2009, held in Jamaica earlier this year, flank Svein Wara, branch director, Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC). Both chefs, who competed in the Culinary Challenge held in February at the Alhambra Inn, St Andrew, will also be participating in the Seafood from Norway Culinary Adventure 2009, being held in Kingston at the Jamaica Pegasus on Tuesday, July 28. The workshop will also be held at the Runaway Bay HEART Hotel and Training Institute in St Ann on July 29 and the luxurious Tryall Club in Sandy Bay, Hanover, on July 30. - Contributed
Thirty-six of Jamaica's leading chefs have signed on to participate in the workshops presented by NSEC with host, Chef Sven Erik Renaa, recently named the 2008 Best Norwegian Chef. Chef Renaa was captain of the Norwegian Culinary Team which won the prestigious WACS Culinary Olympics in 2008, and in 2000 and 2006, he was voted Chef of the Year in Norway.
Debe-Ann Lange-Chen, third-place winner of the Culinary Challenge, is a gourmet caterer for exclusive events and a consultant for various food manufacturers. She brings creativity, style, and an idiosyncratic flair to each meal and event, and will no doubt continue to make her mark as a culinary specialist extraordinaire.
Virginia Burke, worked with Walkerswood for many years. She is the founder of Bamboula, a Caribbean restaurant in Brixton, London and has been a contributor to Bon Appetit and Chile Pepper magazines. She is the author of two cook books, Eat Caribbean and Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen, both published by Simon and Schuster.