BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 25. Nigar Amirbekova, an expert in the cooking field, who has worked for more than five years in journalism and more than 17 years in catering has been appointed vice president of the World Federation of Restaurant Sport (WFRS).
Nigar Amirbekova is the author and project manager of "Diyar - a gastronomic map of Azerbaijan". She is also engaged in the implementation of the project directions for the revival of cultural codes of Azerbaijan and the revival of national cuisine dishes in the regions of the country. She was awarded certificates in culinary arts by ChefsCup, the National Culinary Association of Azerbaijan, ACSA.
Today Nigar Amirbekova kindly agreed to answer our questions:
– Perhaps some of our readers don't know what a restaurant sport is. How would you explain to them what it is?
– This is the only sport in the world that promotes working professions.
The team consists of three key players: a chef, a waiter and a sommelier. The jury gives the team a technical task to prepare some dishes from only the main ingredients that were provided, then it's possible to improvise depending on national characteristics and secret skills. The competition is limited by time restrictions. The chef is focused on preparing the dish, while at the same time the waiter is setting table and the sommelier has to prepare alcoholic or non–alcoholic beverages that will be used taking into account the taste qualities of the prepared dishes. And when the time is up, the jury tastes the dishes and drinks and gives points to the team members. This is a fascinating spectacle that can benefit the audience with useful knowledge of culinary skills.
WFRS has recently been declared the national sport of Israel. You know, the UK has football, Canada has hockey, the US has baseball and Israel has the best sport - restaurant sports. One media person was also asked once – why is it the best sport? And his answer was just brilliant! Baseball players, hockey players, and football players first come to us to eat and then go to play. Not the other way around. Our sport is the best, and most importantly – the most delicious. We even have a tagline: "Restaurant sport is a sport with taste."
- How did it all begin and how was the World Federation of Restaurant Sport (WFRS) created?
- WFRS was established on June 10, 2017. The headquarters are located in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Burgas, Bulgaria. The official languages are English and Russian. Representative of the ECOSOC UN Economic and Social Council Alex Rabinovich is the president of WFRS as well as the CEO of the SHA International Ratings Center.
The first championship was held in Russian Saint Petersburg from June 8 through 10 in 2018. Just three days before the FIFA World Cup. The second championship was held in Israel. Now the WFRS is preparing for its 6th championship, which will be held in May 2023 in Türkiye. It will be an international tournament. Many media outlets provide us with great information support. We expect that a lot of top actors and DJs will come. At least 8,000 spectators will attend the championship. At the same time, the ticket price will be very affordable. We're going to do something big!
World Federation of Restaurant Sport is an international organization with its own charter, regulations, sanitary and technical requirements and sponsorship package.
WFRS also has strategy and goals, and the main ones are the development and improvement of restaurant sports around the world, the regulation of international events in the field of restaurant sports, the promotion of partnership and friendly relations between the national associations of the member states of the WFRS, the unification of efforts of all interested persons and organizations for the benefit of international restaurant sports.
WFRS also has a representative office in each country that closely cooperates with national culinary associations. For example, in Uzbekistan, the federation is represented by the President of the National Association of Chefs of Uzbekistan Akbar Umarov. Azerbaijan is represented by two people. The first one is the President of Azerbaijan Chefs Guild, a recognized master chef and restaurateur Ilkin Hanifa.
Hanifa is also a culinary ambassador, ambassador of the Culinary Guild of the UAE (WACS), a member of the Culinary Guild of Syria (WACS), and Honorary chef of the Culinary Association of Ghana, Africa (WACS).
Azerbaijan's second representative is an international judge, President of the Golden Falcons Federation in Azerbaijan, honorary member of the Chef United Association Sweden Stockholm and the ambassador of this organization in Azerbaijan, Ambassador of the federation Gastro Antalya + Mediterranean's chef Club, President of WFRS in Azerbaijan Emil Aliyev.
- What is you envisioned future for restaurant sports?
- The most remarkable thing about competitions is that they produce a radical revolution in people's views on work, because it turns work from a shameful and heavy burden, as it was considered before, into a matter of honor, into a matter of glory, into a matter of valor and heroism. Restaurant sport is the only sport in the world where representatives of professions from the same field compete.
Many of us visit restaurants but don't think about how many people from different professions have invested their labor and skills so that we just have breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And often, these people find themselves in the shadows, losing the incentive to work and get involved in the routine. It's important to note the work of people in these professions and highlight it. Excitement and the spirit of competition is a great motivation for both employees of the hospitality and catering establishments, as well as for restaurants and hotel owners. I am sure that restaurant sports will become very popular because food is still at the epicenter of events - it's always bright, inviting and necessary, which will unite and rally professionals and gourmets from all over the world.
- What is the aim of competitions?
- The word 'sport' translated from French means a game, entertainment. First of all, this is a powerful show. But we need to look deeper, for many countries of the world its tourism and the popularization of national cuisine. We have no restrictions on costumes or dishes, and we welcome a creative approach. In general, everything was based on a competitive spirit. WFRS has come a long way in three and a half years. Cooperation with the SHA International Rating Centre helps in promoting it. A total of 34 countries have either a national restaurant sports federation or an association with the WFRS. WFRS is included in the top 30 sports federations of the world in finance and promotion. World Federation of Restaurant Sport already established itself as a brand that also produces water, and sanitizers, and many companies are already negotiating with WFRS on joint product branding and promotion. WFRS supplies Israeli wine with its logo to 24 countries of the world.
– What are some of the features of how the competitions are held? What are the stages of the competitions?
– We have two stages – first qualifying competitions, then the teams enter the finals. There are only three people per team. The chef cooks on the stage, the waiter sets the table for a certain number of judges who give points on five aspects, for example, time used up, the taste, the dish aesthetics and etc. There is also a sommelier, who is concerned with opening a bottle of wine or making a cocktail. We have a condition – we give out boxes with products that must be used in the dish. But we do not prohibit the use of additional products and spices. Also, our competitions are judged by up to five judges from the WACS, and all of them are exceptional professionals.
- What do you think is important in the restaurant business?
- The most important thing for me in the restaurant business is professionalism and honesty. The place may be small and 'not cool' at all, as they say nowadays, but it's always packed with visitors if it has delicious food, if it's clean and exact without surprises and fluctuations. However it happens that the restaurant approached interior design very professionally, but there is nothing good to eat. What is there to evaluate, and how and why? For me, it is important that the restaurateur assesses its own strength with a cavity and distributes responsibilities so that the kitchen, the atmosphere, and cleanliness with a general competent concept are equally good.
I would also like to note that the evaluation of criteria (there are several of them) of restaurants around the world will be handled by an International Rating Center, whose work in Azerbaijan has been entrusted to me. This is a celebrity system, where stars will be assigned to restaurants and hotels absolutely impartially and objectively. This will allow tourists, gourmets and ordinary citizens, firstly, to see a restaurant or hotel that has passed control in the general list of catering and hospitality field, and secondly, to know in advance what to expect from a particular facility in terms of security, quality of service and service, and thirdly, to get an accurate location with recommendations.