From cooking in a five-star hotel in India to creating dishes in a safari lodge in Zimbabwe it’s fair to say Bermuda’s Rising Chef of the Year competitors have real international flair.Twelve chefs will put their culinary skills to the test in the Bermuda Hospitality Institute’s contest from November 1 to 9.Aimed at discovering the Island’s next shining star, the chefs will be given 25 minutes to prepare and plate an entrée utilising a set number of ingredients from a mystery basket.Their dishes will then be judged by a panel of established chefs, with the chance of going on to the finals at International Imports on Par-la-Ville Road in Hamilton.The Royal Gazette talked with some of the chefs about how they got their start in the kitchen and why they want the coveted title.Chef Saravanan Ranganathan: Grotto BayAt age 17 Saravanan Ranganathan had no clue what he wanted to do professionally, but on a whim decided to join India’s Pondicherry Institute of Hotel Management. From there he learned the basics on food selection and cooking and fell in love with the culinary world.Mr Ranganathan has been cooking for nine years, starting his career as a commis at the luxury five-star hotel Leela Palace Kempinski in India. He spent time in Dubai before relocating to Bermuda about a year ago.His favourite part of the profession is having the opportunity to travel around the world, but he said the job could be challenging at times, particularly when adapting to working under pressure.Mr Ranganathan entered Bermuda’s Rising Chef of the Year competition mostly to push himself. “I felt it would help me keep updated and I would get to learn and meet new people.“I am confident in my potential which I have learned through my previous hotel [experiences]. I did also participate in ‘salone culinaire’ competitions in Dubai which gave me wisdom to face the challenge in Rising Chef of the Year.”He said he was “extremely happy” to have been selected and looking forward to participating in the semi-finals next month.The chef said his ultimate dream would be to start his own restaurant back in his native India.“I would love to [use] all my experience and knowledge that I gained over the years at good restaurants and would also love to feed poor [people] through my restaurant.”Chef Kelly Simons: Intern at Cambridge BeachesKelly Simons signed up for the Rising Chef of the Year competition because she believed she had something to prove.She’s one of the youngest chefs, and one of only two Bermudians taking part.She told The Royal Gazette: “I decided to enter the competition because I wanted to gain more experience, build my self-confidence and prove that I can do this.”Ms Simons, 21, began cooking at a very young age and said culinary skills run in her family. “I have been in and around kitchens since I was eight or nine years old, but I only seriously started experimenting and trying out recipes and ingredients when I was a little older.“I was about 15 years old when I seriously considered becoming a chef as a career and decided that I wanted to go to culinary school.”She started studying at the Bermuda College last September; she spends her summer breaks interning at Cambridge Beaches.Ms Simons said she was “excited, hopeful and proud” to learn that she was chosen to participate in the competition and said it would be a professional stepping stone for her.“I would like to hopefully take my career to management eventually but I would also like to study to be a pastry chef,” she added.Some of the rewards of the job, according to Ms Simons, are that chefs get to do something they enjoy everyday. “You’re always learning something [new] — whether it’s a new recipe, or even just a way to improve a recipe or your technique. There are [always] new products and tools introduced all of the time. It’s a really cool, and fascinating field to be in.“The main challenges are the amount of time and hard work that you have to put into it,” she explained.Chef Jonathan Rivard: Soon to be at BoleroAs a youngster, Jonathan Rivard spent much of his time making home cooked meals with his grandmother in Quebec, Canada. He was still a teenager when he began climbing the ranks in hotel kitchens in Toronto.“I guess you could say I gained interest in food at a very young age, but it wasn’t till I was age 14 that a stepped into a professional kitchen as a kitchen porter,” he told The Royal Gazette.“A year later I was promoted to chef de partie and a year after that when I was 16 years old, I was promoted to sous chef.”At that time he was working both nights and weekends to earn some extra cash, but decided he wanted to pursue his passion at the college level. He studied at the Niagara Culinary Institute and graduated with honours in 2009 before training for a year in Paris.Mr Rivard entered BHI’s Rising Chef competition to push himself “to new limits”. “Working as a chef in a restaurant, you sometimes fall into a daily routine that can become too comfortable [so] doing a competition is something that is both challenging and exciting.“I believe I have what it takes because I think outside the box and like to bring new ideas to the table. Having worked in different parts of the world, I feel like I have the knowledge and the confidence to take on this challenge.”Mr Rivard said he didn’t have any signature dishes, but enjoyed using ingredients like pork belly, beef cheeks and oxtail.For him, there’s nothing more rewarding than serving customers the best possible food with the freshest products available, but he said it could be difficult trying to manage all the stress of the kitchen environment.His ultimate dream is to open his own restaurant, but he said: “In the meantime I want to gain as much experience as possible in all fields of cooking in order to have the best success in the future.”Chef Ryan Lampano: Cambridge BeachesIt’s like father, like son in chef Ryan Lampano’s case. Not only was he inspired to become a chef by his dad Rolando Lampano (currently employed at Specialty Inn), he will also be following his father’s shadow in this year’s competition.“[I entered the contest because] I am very competitive and I love challenges,” Mr Lampano said. “Years ago my dad entered this exact same competition and he got the first place title, so I want to follow in his footsteps.”The young chef got his start in the kitchen by watching his father cook up local delicacies in the Philippines, he would also lend him a hand from time to time.“I’m not sure exactly how old I was, but growing up with a dad who’s a chef and a mom that does a lot of home cooking, I knew that cooking was the path I wanted to take,” Mr Lampano said.For the past two years he’s been studying culinary arts at the Bermuda College and completed a three-month internship at Cambridge Beaches.Since getting a full-time position at the hotel this past August, he said he’s enjoyed being on the job and just sharing his passion for food. His favourite ingredients to work with are vegetables, starches and seafoods.He said: “I love working under pressure so the fast-paced life of the kitchen is just right for me.”Learning he was selected as one of the 12 chefs for this year’s competition came as a pleasant shock for Mr Lampano. He said: “I was actually still asleep when I received the e-mail on my phone about being selected for the competition, and after that, I was awoken with excitement.“[After this] I would like to keep moving up and experience every position in the kitchen while at the same time learning new recipes and techniques from my colleagues.”Chef Uddav Tamang: Angelo’s BistroUddav Tamang got his professional start in the kitchen at age 16 when he was hired as a dishwasher and assistant to the chefs.A few years later while thinking long and hard about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, he settled on a job in the fast-paced culinary industry.“I asked myself what I’d want to do for the rest of my life, then I decided I would be a chef because I love to cook and I love to make people happy with my food,” he said.Nine years ago he took a hotel management and tourism technology course at the Khumjung Hotel Training Center in the capital city of Kathmandu, Nepal. He recently came to Bermuda in search of new opportunities.Mr Tamang said he wanted to enter the Rising Chef of the Year competition to challenge himself and “show the Bermuda culinary industry what I’m capable of creating with simple food ingredients”.“I have trained hard to know how to do it and that makes me feel very confident, to do well in the competition,” he said.The chef didn’t know he had been selected until Sunday morning, when his boss called him to offer his congratulations. “I was so happy to hear the news and very thankful for the opportunity,” he said.While there are challenges that come along with the job, Mr Tamang said his passion allows him to take the obstacles in stride.“Rewards and success will come naturally to you along the way, but my best reward right now is to live here in Bermuda. It’s a very beautiful island surrounded by the kindest people ever.”While Mr Tamang is well on his way, he said his career won’t have officially started until he can open his own restaurant in his hometown in Kathmandu.Takemore Mukazika — Fairmont HamiltonBack in 1998, high school student Takemore Mukazika started helping out in the kitchen at Pamuzinda Safari Lodge in Zimbabwe.“In the beginning [it] was all about extra cash,” he said, “but I quickly realised there was more to learn and enjoy about food than I thought. I wanted to master what the chefs were all doing and to be better than them.”The teenager attended Bulawayo Polytechnic’s College of Hospitality and graduated in 2001. He’s been cooking professionally ever since.For Mr Mukazika, becoming a chef has opened up new doors in the hospitality and many great experiences, but also some challenges.“People have changed their eating habits and expect more everyday. It’s a challenge to provide healthy food as many people are now very cautious with what they eat due to personal, religious or healthy reasons. As chefs we still have to deliver,” he said.The junior sous chef said he saw entering the competition as a great opportunity to push his skills even further.“I believe in what I do and have many years of experience which will help me through the competition. This is a chance to promote our culinary industry and to network with other chefs while having fun.”He was “extremely excited” to learn he was among the dozen chefs Island-wide to be selected. He plans to go back to school to further his studies next year and told The Royal Gazette: “I want to move more into senior management in years to come.”Chef Daamian Simmons — The ReefsTwenty-three-year-old Daamian Simmons used to help around the kitchen with baking as a young boy, taking somethings out of the oven and stirring things on the stove.But he said it wasn’t a dream of his to become a chef until his parents encouraged him to consider it as a career path. He said: “I used to work construction with my stepdad part-time during the summer and once I got my GED I realised I needed a career choice, something to pursue.”At age 17, Mr Simmons started working as an apprentice at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess; two weeks later he started working towards a diploma in culinary arts at the Bermuda College.He went even further with his education, getting a bachelor’s degree in culinary management from the Arts Institute of Charleston in South Carolina and recently landed a job with The Reefs hotel.The budding chef decided to enter the Rising Chef of the Year event to see how he stood up against other culinary talents. He said: “I thought it would be a good experience for me to actually compete against other chefs.“I know that every chef is talented in their own way, but because they have different strengths, styles and cultures [and though] it would be a great learning experience for me to enter and see where I stand with the competition and skill level.”He said he was “excited” and “honoured” to be selected as one of the chefs for the semi-finals and said: “This is something I never even dreamed of so I am definitely grateful for the opportunity.”Mr Simmons said he hopes to one day work overseas to boost his skill level and knowledge of food. “That would take me to the next level. I have learned so much in the past three months [at The Reefs] in terms of different techniques and cooking methods and I am still learning.“I am the youngest chef in the kitchen up there so you learn a little bit from everyone,” he added.Chef Adam de la Cruz- Fairmont Southampton PrincessAdam de la Cruz said there were always parties at his house, filled with a host of wonderful foods.“As a kid I would help the family making springrolls and empanadas. I would just sit and roll [the dough] while my mom would make fillings.“I realised I wanted to become a chef in Grade 11, early in the year during a cafeteria class. Not long after that I dropped out [of high school] and did the completion courses so I could enrol into culinary school.”His first culinary job was as a dishwasher, but he had every intention of cooking. Two weeks after starting the job, the chef noticed his speed and determination and decided to start him working as a cook instead.Since taking a college level course in European culinary arts in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada, the chef has developed a broad array of different cooking styles.One of his signature dishes is a braised beef chuck in tomato veal sauce, with pan seared gnocchi, wild mushrooms and arugula and pecorino cheese.He said the best part of the job was getting great reviews and building up a base of loyal customers, but everyday on the job should be a challenge, he said. “If it’s not you’re not pushing yourself enough.”Mr de la Cruz decided to enter the local competition after a chef at the Fairmont Southampton approached him and explained the concept of it to him.“Since I’m still growing as a chef in my career I thought it would be fitting to join a Rising Chef competition to showcase what I can do,” he said. “I am joining the competition as a way to challenge myself and to think differently about how I approach food and am taking it as a learning experience.”His ultimate goal is to one day own a restaurant back in his hometown.Chefs Trevor Kliaman and Carmin Viola from the Fairmont Southampton and Andrew Turnbull from the Waterlot Inn are also participating in the competition.Tickets to the competition can be ordered in advance by calling 292-1662.