Young chef from Ahmedabad crowned the Mistress of Spices in London

New Delhi: Cooking is not just about taste and flavour in the professional world, learnt seven young chefs as they battled it out in the finals of the IIHM-Young Chef India Schools 2015 at the University of West London recently.

The winner of the cooking competition for class 11th and 12th students was Vedika Kariwala from Ahmedabad's Maharaja Agrasen Vidhyalaya.

She won because "there were a lot of cooking skills and techniques on her plate. Apart from taste, cooking is also about the texture of the dish,

the appearance, consistency, staying focussed and calm under pressure and keeping the work station clean," chorused the judges panel of 5, including 3 of London's best-known Indian chefs.

So what did Vedika, 17, do that stood out from the other six finalists from Delhi, Calcutta, Pune, Banglore, Hyderabad and Jaipur? "I used my ingredients differently.

I grilled my patty pan with Indian spices which a judge said he had not seen before. Moreover, I rolled a puff pastry around an asparagus which made it crunchy," said Vedika Kariwala, the Vikas Khanna fan

In its 5th year, the format of the Young Chef competition was more challenging. Each finalist was given a list of 16 ingredients including sweet potato, green asparagus, French beans, butternut squash and Arbi, plus one mystery ingredient revealed on the last day which was patty pan.

Everyone also had to prepare pannacotta for dessert. "The game has changed. Now you are looking at pushing the boundaries for a more professional outcome. One was a box with unfamiliar vegetables that pushes them to be creative.

And the other was a set dessert that shows the judges that they can follow recipes and be exact in their interpretation," said celebrity judge Chef Andy Varma from Kolkata who has been a judge for three consecutive years

What does the Marwari girl, who calls herself a "Calcutta fan" because she loves the street food and milk cakes there, planned to do with the prize money of 5,000 pounds (Rs 500,000)?

"I am very much impressed with the kitchens in London and I would like to use the money to buy good equipment for my own kitchen back home," said Vedika, who is famous at home and among relatives for her Cheese Potato Roesti.

The win could mean bright future for the commerce student who is now convinced that she wants to be a chef. "There are huge job opportunities in UK for people like them because there's a chef skill shortage here in London," said chef Dipna.

However, she also pointed out that a major hurdle to the crossover would be the immigration clampdown. "As soon as the government can ease that legislation, we can bring in chefs like them. Before I used to bring in all my chefs from India but now there are strict rules," added Dipna.

When the winner was announced, in the presence of chief guest and politician Bob Blackman and the founder of the young chef initiative Dr. Suborno Bose of IIHM, Vedika stood up in disbelief, unable to contain her excitement.

"I don't know what to say, I'm so happy. I didn't expect to win because the competition was tough. I was competing with 6 of the best in India," smiled the Ranveer Singh fan, as she reached for her headgear - a brown hat with a black ribbon - before posing for pictures.

Why the hat? "I love wearing hats. I have many hats at home. I guess I like to stand out," Vedika signed off. She sure does.