Cooking skills in just nine months 128 take part in contest

IN just nine months, those who could barely poach eggs were taught to cook and were rewarded with cash prizes and electrical goods.

Organised by Baba’s, the 37-episode cooking competition entitled “Akademi 1001 Rasa Baba’s” began in April 2008 with 128 contestants who were given culinary challenges.

After the final episode, Aslinzailinda Kosni emerged as the grand prize winner of the inaugural “Akademi 1001 RASA Baba’s” with her recipe “Nasi Briyani Jagung Ayam Uppuma berserai”, taking home the grand prize of RM10,000 offered by Baba’s and electrical items courtesy of LG.

Hawa Nurnajmi Abdul Jalil won the second prize of RM3,000 for her dish “Ikan Kukus Briyani Uppuma Baba’s”.

Azrul Rostum Shahriza Abd Aziz and Noorshahhila Maseri won the third and fourth places and won RM2,000 and RM1,000 respectively for their dishes “Briyani Uppuma berkeju & Salad Mangga” and “Briyani Ayam”.

Baba’s Advertising & Promotions head Claudian Navin Stanislaus said that this was the longest running cooking competition shown on TV.

“We promote the usage of the products and demonstrate the versatility of our product range. Despite many thinking that Baba’s is all about curry, only 20% of the recipes shown during the 32 episodes are curries while the others include pasta, pizza and kuih,” he said.

The crew will be on the hunt for the second season of Akademi 1001 Rasa Baba’s.