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A YOUNG French resident of Amwaj Islands re-established her country’s reputation for fine cooking when she was declared winner of the kingdom’s first Junior Cooking Competition.
Parisian Victoire Vidil, 13, Year 9 student from the French School of Bahrain in Busaiteen, charmed judges with her creation of the famous French dessert Tarte Tatin – an upside-down tart in which the fruit, usually apples, are caramelised in butter and sugar before the tart is baked.
Her top dish was chosen from 17 others produced by high school contestants from Bahrain School, the British School of Bahrain (BSB), Philippine School of Bahrain (PSP), St Christopher’s School and Qudaibiya School at the Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre.
A thrilled Victoire who lives with her parents, Pascal and Muriel, sister Oceane, nine, and brother Marin, two, said she enjoys baking and dishing out a surprise meal for her family. She said: “I love cooking because I love eating and everything sweet.
“Everyone is happy to eat a tasty meal and my greatest joy comes from seeing a satisfied expression when people enjoy a great meal. I like experimenting and making changes to different recipes.”
Victoire believes her culinary skills are inherited from her 80-year-old maternal grandmother, Elisabeth who lives in Maisons Laffitte, near Paris. She loves to bake home-grown cake recipes with apple and her repertoire includes pancakes, pasta, sandwiches, gnocchi and healthy burgers.
While she has regularly baked cakes for her friends’ birthdays and participated in bake sales for charity, this was Victoire’s first cooking competition success. She believes the experience has been great and has given her loads of confidence. She said: “The win came as a great surprise. I participated for fun because I am passionate about cooking. I was very relaxed and cool but well planned so I could prepare the dish in the designated time.
“I opted to make a dessert because I believe it leaves a great taste at the end of every meal. It can also be decorated and a great looking dish always tastes better and can add to the experience.”
The budding chefs were trained to prepare a select number of dishes by Muriel Dunand from Saar and a committee of professional chefs from the country’s five-star hotels judged the cooking for its taste, flavour, texture and presentation. The second place in the event went to Marie Colmo from PSP and the third place was shared by Latifa bin Ali of BSB and Romane Pero of the French School.
