Bangkok--24 Jun--Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok
Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok in conjunction with Global Premium Wine Co., Ltd. organised the “Dilmah Real High Tea Global Challenge 2015” press conference to announce that Thailand will have the opportunity to showcase its culinary expertise this July, with its high tea chefs from Shangri-La Hotel representing the country and competing for the greatest honour at the Toughest Tea Challenge in the World - the Dilmah Real High Tea Global Challenge 2015 in Sri Lanka. The press conference took place at the hotel’s Corundum Room recently.
The Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge will select its global tea champion this July from amongst 21 teams competing from 14 countries (Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, France, Hong Kong, Chile, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Thai, Indonesia and Sri Lanka). The objective of the challenge is to recreate the afternoon tea experience, bringing it back to the 21st century, reinventing and redefining this luxurious tea ceremony with innovative creations that enhance the experience as a whole.
The Dilmah Real High Tea Global Challenge 2015 is the event that reunites all national winners from country challenges that were held all over the world. In Thailand, the Shangri-La Hotel’s host chefs; Executive Pastry Chef Reinolf Moessl and Wilai Tangprasertsuk, Team Leader from Lobby Lounge, emerged as the national winners in last year's Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge, after defeating 15 other hotels in Bangkok at the challenge.
Reinolf Moessl - Executive Pastry Chef, Shangri-La Hotel said “We worked really hard and dedicated a lot of time to exploring, creating, and testing, until we came up with a contemporary “Pink Royal” themed High Tea menu, focusing on the unique Thai culture and incorporating royal elegance in every aspect from the well-thought out pairings and sophisticated plating of each dish and beverage. And we won!”
Wilai Tangprasertsuk, Team Leader from Lobby Lounge, Shangri-La Hotel added “Now, we are getting ready for the Global Challenge and will give our best effort to win the global title. We hope that we will be able to win this great honour, not only for us and the Shangri-La Hotel, but for our Kingdom as well”.
The Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge started in 2007, in partnership with the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) when the Dilmah Founder – Merrill J. Fernando, wanted to reinstate tea to its rightful position in high tea. As a passionate tea grower who has worked tirelessly to share the joy of ‘real’ tea with tea lovers around the world, he vowed to put the ‘tea’ back in High Tea right where it belonged. Thus, the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge was born.
“Dilmah does not provide only world class quality tea but it is also the pioneer of the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge - the Toughest Tea Challenge in the World. The High Tea is the closest that the world has to a global tea ceremony. A tea ceremony is very important for several reasons as tea brings people together. A pot of tea does that like nothing else. So there is a much deeper element to what we are doing than just the tea itself. It is not just a culinary competition, nor is it just a tea competition. It is introducing tea to a new generation.” said Dilhan C. Fernando, son of Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando, on commenting on the challenge.
The Real High Tea Global Challenge will take place from 1 to 4 July 2015 and will be judged by a panel of prestigious judges; Bernd Uber – recipient of the exclusive and revered Sidney Taylor Memorial Black Hat Award; Dilhan C. Fernando – Director Dilmah School of Tea and the visionary force of Dilmah Tea Gastronomy; Simon Gault – Master Chef New Zealand judge and Peter Kuruvita – Award winning Chef and Restaurateur.
The criteria for judging is very simple; understanding the exact influence of terroir on the tea, the awareness of the rationale, the knowledge of the exact taste of different teas, how to create the perfect brew, and the use of sustainable ingredients ideally sourced from family businesses which reflects the family values that are also an integral part of Dilmah.
For further information on the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge, log on to http://realhightea.dilmahtea.com/.
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