Jason Black’s recipe tester competition for his exciting upcoming cookbook cow pig chicken has now closed. We had an overwhelming number of responses, most of which were truly excellent. This made it almost impossible to select the top five entries, but, after very careful consideration, we have managed to narrow it down to five lucky winners.
We were surprised at the very generous offers to help from some fantastic chefs, some of which are even working at some of our favourite venues too! Testing the recipes is really about ensuring that they can work under most conditions, not just for able chefs but also for amateur home cooks. We were therefore unable to select the professional chefs, and the almost professionals, even though we would have loved to work with them. Practised cooks, who would most likely be able to cook a gourmet feast with their eyes closed, would have instinctively tweaked the recipes as they went along, or at least skim read the instructions, knowing what was coming next. The real challenge is following the recipes to the letter, in order to make sure that each step is logical, accurate and successful. We have no doubt that every single applicant could have done a superb job, but of course, with it being a competition, not everyone can be a winner.
And so, without further ado, the five lucky recipe testers are:
Sally Collier
Sally is a keen cook, having grown up in her mother’s home catering kitchen. Originally from Trinidad, she has lived in Australia, the US and the UK and now finds herself enjoying her fifth decade in HK. Her favourite meal is a good roast with all the trimmings, followed by a lavish dessert, all of course accompanied by a great bottle of wine.
Karen Herrero
Karen is a 32 year old Spanish citizen who grew up in Canada. In the past 10 years, her job has moved her from Canada to Belgium to France and 2 years ago to Hong Kong. She enjoys the chaotic lifestyle in Asia and is thankful to have a full kitchen to support her unique form of mediation… baking! She loves cooking and hosting brunches and dinners with a focus on European and Middle Eastern flavours.
Veronica Mihno
Veronica, 45, is from Sydney, Australia. Her mum says she started eating solid foods at 5 months old … and frankly she hasn’t stopped since! She has travelled to 33 different countries and makes it her mission to sample whatever culinary delights she finds. She no longer buys traditional souvenirs; she buys kitchen utensils. She has been living in Hong Kong for 13 years and is still delighted with a new find at the wet markets, and you will most certainly find her puttering about the foreign food isles at supermarkets. She is an all round cook, but the best compliments from her friends and guests are for her roasts, pastries and cakes. “Yumm-o!”
Payal Patel
Payal is a relative HK ‘newbie’ having moved here from the UK about 5 months ago. She would be lieing if she said she ‘lurves it’ just yet, but she’s definitely finding her way and making the most of what HK has to offer – which as you well know is plenty and some! She is pleased that she has not limited her experience thus far to merely bar hopping; she has been to some wonderful restaurants, been on numerous hikes and thrown in some travelling too.
There’s nothing fancy about the stuff Payal likes to cook–large portions of unpretentious comfort food.
Megan Smith
Though often referred to as ‘that girl who likes cake’, which, by the way, she takes to be a positive rather than negative reference, her real name is Megan Smith. Having graduated in the UK just last June, Megan hopped on a plane to HK as fast as she could to begin a new chapter of her life here. Currently “22-years-old going on 62″, she enjoys eating, food, cooking, food, baking, food, running (usually towards the prospect of food), rowing (often followed by food) and reading (about food). “Greedy? Me? Never!”
These recipe testers were selected on the basis of their excellent responses to the question “what makes you think you have what it takes to be one of Jason’s elite recipe testers?”
We are all very excited about cow pig chicken and can’t wait to get started on the recipe testing! Updates will follow, so watch this space to see how the book is coming along and when it will be on the shelves for you to buy.
