Paul Bajada, sous-chef at db Seabank Hotel, and Gabriel Caruana, chef de partie at the Hilton Malta, have just returned from the Global Chef South Europe competition held in Sarajevo, where they placed third in their respective categories.

After winning a local culinary competition called The Global Chef challenge, Bajada and Caruana were chosen to represent Malta by the Malta Chef Society.

Ten countries from southern Europe took part. Participants in the main competition had three hours to prepare, cook and serve six people a full-blown meal. They had to use specific ingredients: for starters, scallops, salmon and halibut and for main course, veal loin, veal blade and veal sweet breads.

For desserts, the chefs were provided with Valhrona dark chocolate and Earl Grey tea.

Italy came first and Portugal placed second, upping their chance of taking part in the Global Chef world finals in Greece in September 2016. Bajada clinched third place.

“It took a lot of sacrifice, concentration and dedication to finish my training and thanks to my family and colleagues who supported me throughout this time, together with my mentors and the society, I still achieved a good result,” said Bajada.

“I gained a lot from my experience and performance and I’m looking forward to participating in more competitions representing Malta. Without the support of important people around you, having a dream and the will to give it your very best in any occasion, you will not succeed.”

Caruana took part in the junior category of the competition (under-22) called Hans Bueschkens. He was offered the same ingredients and time to cook a meal for four.

The two participants were mentored by chefs Ronnie Caruana and Roger Debono from the Malta Chef Society.