Results of Domashny Ochag Culinary Competition

The Cooking is Easy! festival from Domashny Ochag magazine included the finals of a culinary contest by the same name that began in April of this year with support from Whirlpool.

Domashny Ochag invited readers who had submitted the most interesting recipes to come battle it out in the culinary contest. They were: Yekaterina Glushenkova, Natalya Abanina, Ksenia Starodubova, Anastasia Kudryzvtseva and Yelena Zagoruiko. The contest began at noon on June 4 in the Domashny Ochag Institute kitchen.

The emcee presented the finalists to the assembled guests and introduced them to a jury that included Domashny Ochag editor-in-chief Maria Vinogradova, Vkusno i Polezno editor-in-chief Yelena Pankratova, Cooking is Easy! cookbook series editor Natalya Filatova and Domashny Ochag Institute chef Oleg Sotnikov. Then the participants were given a selection of foods and one hour to prepare three types of dishes: a salad, appetizer and cocktail drink. As they prepared the foods, the jury members thoroughly studied the recipes the women had submitted to the contest. The jurors then judged the final dishes in a blind taste test.

After a thorough taste test, the jury chose Yekaterina Glushenkova of Moscow as the winner, awarding her the grand prize of 100,000 rubles. The jury gave high marks to the excellent choice of recipes that Glushenkova chose to submit to the contest finals. Each participant’s dishes were delicious, but Glushenkova’s stood out for the laconic way they were served, the delicate preparation and the nuanced combination of flavors from varying foods that is an unusual achievement in home cooking. Even under difficult contest conditions, Glushenkova managed to create striking and memorable dishes, employing different ingredients, culinary techniques and serving styles for each. 

The jury also gave a special mention to Anastasia Kudryavtseva, awarding her a one-year subscription to Domashny Ochag and the opportunity to prepare her dishes for the September issue of the magazine. The other finalists received Whirlpool Vitess microwave ovens.