Winning chefs in LG’s life tastes good competition advance to regional round

Ten amateur chefs in Dubai cooked off for the top two spots in the national round of LG’s annual ‘Life Tastes Good’ competition at the Armani Hotel in Dubai. The two winners - Marcela Ofrim and Zerin – will advance to the regional round of the competition in Istanbul, Turkey from October 24-26th. The theme for this year’s event is the ‘World on Your Table’. 

“Now in its fourth year, the Life Tastes Good competition has consistently gotten more popular around the region, attracting interest from both amateur and master chefs. As the competition has progressed, contestants have cooked increasingly sophisticated recipes with ease, and this year’s competition was the most intense to date,” said Mr. H.S. Paik, President of LG Electronics Gulf FZE. 

The 10 contestants were given 60 minutes to prepare one dish each, and winners were determined by a panel of master chefs including Bobby Kapoor, Corporate Chef and Head of Food Service, Griffith Laboratories, Middle East, Alfredo Albergatore, Executive Chef at Emporio Armani Café, Putu Fadly Widarte, Chef de Cuisine at the Armani Hotel, as well as Mr. H.S. Paik, President of LG Electronics Gulf FZE.    

All dishes in the competition were prepared using LG’s SolarDOM. The SolarDOM uses advanced Lightwave technology featuring a halogen and sheath heater to cook the outside and inside of food at the same time. The results are delicious meals that are prepared up to three times faster than a conventional oven with no preheating required, energy savings of up to 40% and evenly cooked meals that preserve the ingredients’ nutrients. 

To add to the excitement, a live demonstration of the SolarDOM’s full capabilities was provided by all three chefs. 

“LG invests heavily in research and development to produce technology that enhances our customers’ quality of life. As this competition shows, with the SolarDOM anyone can easily cook a healthier, world-class meal even more quickly than with a regular oven,” said Mr. H.S. Paik. 

The winning chef, Marcela Ofrim, a 43 year-old Sales and Marketing Manager from Romania, and a veteran cooking show competitor in Dubai, won the competition with her herb crusted lamb with pesto couscous, grilled cherry tomato and nectarine sauce. She said: “I went into the competition to win it, and using the SolarDOM was great. It’s like a smartphone as it uses a combination of smart technology. With the press of a button you get a high quality finished product in no time, so it’s ideal for people who are into cooking at home.” 

Zerin, 33, a Training Coordinator from India, who took second place with her Kerala style stuffed chicken said: “I still can’t believe I won, because everyone cooked world-class dishes. But the SolarDOM made it faster and easier because I was able to cook rice, chicken and stew curry for the main meal and payasam for the dessert all in an hour. With a conventional oven, the pre-heating alone would have meant it would have taken much longer.”  

An all-expenses paid trip to Istanbul and an LG Aqua Air Purifier with Humidifier was the prize for the top two chefs. The third, fourth and fifth place winners received an LG SolarDom light oven, and the remaining contestants got an LG Steam Kompressor vacuum cleaner. 

The two winners from the UAE national round will join winners from seven other countries in the regional round of the competition in Istanbul from October 24-26th.