Lee Ren Ying, 33 and Tong Chin Thing, 34 clinched victory and proven the strength of their relationship and culinary skills at the inaugural IKEA 25-hour Cook-off. The best friends who claimed that the kitchen brings them together, who successfully ruled out 11 other finalist teams through the 25-hour round-the-clock cooking competition, walked away with RM10,000 worth of IKEA Gift Cards for their dream kitchen.
Represented by pairs of husband and wife, parent and child, siblings and friends, the participating teams put their culinary skills and relationships to test and competed in a series of exciting challenges at the Cook-off throughout 25-hours. The IKEA 25-Hour Cook-off spotlighted RM38,000 worth of total prizes in the form of IKEA Gift Cards.
Speaking after winning the Cook-off, Lee said, “I can’t believe that we survived the challenges. It still feels surreal. I would like to thank IKEA Malaysia for this opportunity of a lifetime to be part of this challenge. It was an exhausting 25-hour but we had a lot of fun. The contestants were a great bunch of people and I can definitely say that we’ve forged some amazing friendships here”.
The 12 participating teams were divided into two groups to complete a total of 12 challenges in 25 hours, their results and performance were meticulously judged on both quantitative and qualitative measures by guest judges, Chef Anis Nabilah and Chef Muluk Rambli and a panel judges from IKEA. Merit points were allocated based on results, which were then accumulated to determine the winner.
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The challenges were designed to not only test their culinary skills but also the strength of their relationships. Some of the challenges include:
- “Decorating Duo” – Where each team was given two cakes to decorate with one blindfolded member;
- “What Can They Make?” – Where teams drew lots and receive a mystery box of condiments and ingredients to create 2 different starters and 1 main dishes; and
- “Expressions on a Plate” – Where teams were given specific recipes to create and build on with their individual flair.
There were also three IKEA Helplines available for the teams to use during the challenges, making the Cook-off more exciting than ever. These helplines allowed contestants to seek external help, win double points and even impose delay on a selected opponent to increase their chances of winning.
For more details of the winners, visit their website.
