$12,000 Battle: Top Chefs of Nomadic Cuisine to Compete in Kyrchyn
Who will take home the $12,000 prize and the title of the best nomadic cuisine chef? The decisive rounds of the Chef Battle culinary competition are taking place in Kyrchyn Gorge. What began as a festival featuring a giant cake has transformed into an arena for professionals from 15 countries, all ready to prove their culinary mastery.
Today, September 4, the decisive semifinal rounds of the Chef Battle are taking place at the Kyrchyn Valley. Representatives from 15 countries initially competed for the $12,000 grand prize, but only the nine strongest chefs have made it to this stage. President Sadyr Zhaparov and First Lady Aigul Zhaparova also attended the chef battle.
The competition is being held in an extremely challenging “black box” format: chefs receive a secret set of ingredients and have just a few minutes to develop and execute a dish concept that reflects the spirit of nomadic civilization. In previous rounds, participants already demonstrated their skills by preparing delicacies from liver — one of the most challenging and iconic ingredients of nomadic cuisine.
Semifinalists continuing the competition:
- Akbar Asylbekov (Kyrgyzstan);
- Timofey Kobetyak (Russia);
- Feyruz Dadashov (Azerbaijan);
- Batyr Khandurdyyev (Turkmenistan);
- Taron Aghababyian (Armenia);
- Erjan Kelesh (Türkiye);
- Yulduz Ergashева (Uzbekistan);
- Said Roshchaev (Kazakhstan);
- Gongorjav Adilbish (Mongolia).
Chefs from the United Kingdom, Canada, Georgia, the Philippines, and Palestine have already been eliminated from the tournament. The winner will be announced tomorrow, September 5, following the grand final, where the finalists will have to prepare an ethnic dish using a whole lamb.
As a reminder, the festival opened with a giant 220-kilogram cake. Its seven tiers symbolized the regions of Kyrgyzstan, while the handmade fondant decorations featured a snow leopard, eagles, and a yurt. The masterpiece took four days to create and required 1,200 eggs and 24 kg of Belgian chocolate. After a large-scale photo session, thousands of festival guests were treated to the enormous dessert.
The festival in Kyrchyn will continue until September 6. To ensure that connectivity issues in the mountains do not interfere with guests’ experience, the general sponsor, MBANK, has provided convenient payments via MPay throughout the festival grounds. The key advantage of the technology is that payments can be made even without an internet connection.
For MBANK, supporting the “World Nomad Kitchen” has become a natural continuation of its strategy to promote national values. As the bank notes, bringing cultures from around the world together through food and hospitality is exactly the idea supported by the “First Digital” bank.
MBANK — the first digital bank. Made in Kyrgyzstan!
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