A 24-year-old young woman from the island of Rhodes won the first prize in the culinary competition “European Young Chef Award 2019”.

Irene Giorgoudiou represented the South Aegean region in the cooking contest which was co-organised by the South Aegean Prefecture, Europe’s Gastronomic Region for 2019, the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism (IGCAT), on October 23 and 24, at the Rhodes Palace Hotel.

The talented young chef, a member of the Cyclades & Dodecanese Chef Club, works at the Esperos Village Hotel, and managed to secure the first prize with the dish “12 Elements”, whose creation was based on 12 ingredients from the Dodecanese islands.

Her dish won over the International Jury under the chairmanship of the 2019 Gastronomic District of Europe Ambassador Chef Arroyo Barbarigou.

The “12 Elements” dish was a grouper with okra, saffron, dry mussel and 8 more ingredients, served in a clay pot, “blending tradition with the modern cooking concept”, as mentioned in a statement.

Slovenia’s Jure Dretnik came in second with the ‘Lunch of Mowers’ dish, and Hans Kjellsson of Denmark came third with ‘The Taste of Home’.