THE IKEA YAS MALL COOKING RELAY COMPETITION!

The Al-Futtaim IKEA store in YAS Island, Abu Dhabi staged its Cooking Challenge for our Abu Dhabi mums last month and here’s what happened!

Everyone can recall home-cooked dishes that taste the best when made by their mother. Al-Futtaim IKEA recognises that the best cooks in the world are mothers and invited mothers in Abu Dhabi to take part in a fun cooking competition last month.

The Challenge

Two teams, each consisting of six mums, had to work together to recreate two dishes from Al-Futtaim IKEA Yas Mall’s culinary team - Smoked Salmon and Red Cabbage and a Plant Ball and Salad Wrap. Sounds straightforward? Not when six ladies in each of the teams had just 30 minutes to absorb the details of two separate recipes, study the premade examples of the dishes and decide which of the six ladies in the team would work on which elements, as well as how much time each step would take. Oh, and they had to execute the dishes to the exacting standards of The Judge, the man in charge of the sumptuous food offerings at Al-Futtaim IKEA Yas Mall’s popular family restaurant.

The Teams

The ladies were divided into two teams:

THE KIDS CAME TOO!

A beautiful support squad of the children of each team of mums was on hand to not only cheer their mums, but also to taste the final dishes prepared by their mothers’ teams. The enthusiasm of the kids, combined with the focus and time pressure of the teams doing the challenge made for a wonderfully exciting family atmosphere! And happily, all the children thoroughly enjoyed the mothers’ recreations of the Al-Futtaim IKEA dishes!

The Judging

The Judge delivered his verdict on the winning team, pointing out that the competition was very close, but he favoured the team that not only cleaned their workstations as they went along (as professional chefs are trained to do!), but also the team that added their own twist to the seasonings. He declared that Team A were the winners of the Al-Futtaim IKEA Cooking Challenge!

After the cooking, all the mums and children sat down together to eat in Al-Futtaim IKEA's buffet restaurant and celebrate not only the winning team, but all of our achievements as women who feed our families!

The Winning Team

The winners were Team A - comprised of Indonesian friends Agnes, Feira, Mathilda, Novilsya and Rini, together with their team-mate Nida. When the winners were declared, the ladies were delighted, but the biggest cheer came from the children.

The winning team were awarded boxes of IKEA goodies, with the runners-up receiving gift baskets from the team at IKEA Yas Mall, Abu Dhabi.

The Celebration Dinner

The cooking challenge ended on a suitably foodie note, with both teams and all the children heading to the Al-Futtaim IKEA buffet restaurant to sample and enjoy delicious offerings from a family restaurant that delighted all the taste preferences of the wonderful mothers and children.