Patience Berepele, Victor Mac-Adonai and Yahaya Bindo emerged winners at the grand finale of the 2024 Hansik (Korean Food) contest on Saturday in Abuja, StarNews24 reports
The contest was organised by the Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria (KCCN)
For the prize money, while Berepele clinched one million naira, Mac-Adonai and Bindo got seven hundred thousand naira and four hundred thousand naira respectively.
The visibly super excited Berepele said the journey to her victory started in June 2024 was not an easy one.
She explained that, there were different stages of the contest that the participants have to scale through. .
According to her, words alone cannot describe how she feel in winning the contest.
“The competition was kinly contested. Every contestant was optimistic of winning. They are all potential winners.
“I thank God for making me the overall winner. What really helped me to achieve this is that I like to cook.
“I am someone who is passionate about other people. Also, when I taste a meal, I am always curious to know what is missing and what to add to balance it.
“So, as I practice over the weeks, I always take cognisance of taste and what spices or ingredients that could spice up a meal. Aside that, I also participated in the classes,” Berepele said.
Berepele who is also a Guardian Councillor appreciated the KCCN for givien her the opportunity to participate in the contest.
She said the KCCN has done well in promoting Korean Culture in Nigeria.
“Like, during the second round of the contest, they found a way to make a fusion between Nigeria and Korea to ensure that everyone become abreast with other culture.
Also speaking, the first runner up, Victor Mac-Adonai said there was this famous aphorism that says, ‘Great Cooking is not for the faint of heart. You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not even work, and you must not let anyone define your limits’
According to him, anyone can cook, but, only the fearless can be great.
He added, “a cook makes food! I love food! Therefore i love to cook.
“People think cuisine is snooty, that it’s exclusively meant for the elites and therefore a chef must also be snooty. But its not so, a cook is someone who makes food. If you love food, then you will love to cook.
“And thats why i choose to participate at the Hansik 2024 contest. And like i said during my impression for the preliminary round that ‘i just want to make a worthy meal’ because, i love cuisine, ranging from French to korean cuisine,” Mac-Adonai said.
Meanwhile, the second runner up, Yahaya Bindo from Adamawa State, said he is happy to be among the winners scaling through three rounds of the contest.
“I am super grateful to KCCN for the opportunity, and to my family and friends for their unrelented support all through the contest”.
Speaking, the Ambassador of Republic of Korea to Nigeeia, Mr Kim Pankyu said he was happy to see Nigerians enjoying Korean Cuisines.Â
He hinted that the embassy would soon establish a Korean Restaurant in Abuja to serve Nigerians yearning for Korean cuisines.