OIC Halal Expo hosts global cookery competition in Istanbul

Chefs and amateurs from dozens of countries are competing as part of the 8th World Halal Summit and 9th Organization of Islamic Cooperation's Halal Expo. The summit and expo commenced in Istanbul on Thursday, with officials delving into measures to further expand the burgeoning global market for halal products. The events, for which Anadolu Agency is the global communications partner, are expected to draw some 40,000 visitors, including around 9,000 people from across the world. Some 90 young chefs exhibited their skills in different categories in the fields of food and pastry during the first day of the cookery competition, organized by All Chefs and Pastry Cooks Confederation (Taspakon), Oner Culfaz, the head of the confederation said. He added that the six-year-old cookery event became a kind of championship this year. 'Our aim here is to both explain what halal is and enable our attendee to compete with products grown in Türkiye and introduce Turkish gastronomy,' he said. Stating that the competition aims to promote Turkish gastronomy, Culfaz noted that chefs from nearly 40 countries will compete in the four-day championship. He stressed that the confederation also organized the same event in four different countries The competition is expected to joint by 350 chefs and amateurs totally, he said. There are completely individual struggles in the competition, the international jury will determine the winners with great care, he underlined. 'The winners will have prepared themselves for the professional world and have gained a significant achievement that they can write on their resume,' he said.