In a gripping finale, Nandini Diwakar and Sanjeev Gakhar beat six other finalists in a live-cook out session to win India’s one of a kind online culinary talent hunt, Lufthansa #cookandfly contest held in partnership with The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. Nandini and Sanjeev were announced winner at the grand finale ceremony at The Leela Ambience Gurgaon. Rajni Kaura (Paneer-e-husn) and Simmi Sareen (Upma Polenta cakes with mushroom coconut sauce) won the first and second runner up titles respectively. The winning recipes – Nandini (Murgh Noore Bahara with Mawa Pulao) and Sanjeev (Masala Aloo aur khatte pyaaz) will be featured in Lufthansa’s inflight menu.
Lufthansa #cookandfly contest is Season 2 of Star Chef Contest where the nationwide hunt for India’s largest online culinary talent is conducted by MasterChefs Kunal Kapur and Vinod Saini of The Leela and Lufthansa’s culinary expert for the Asian region, Chef Thomas Brockenauer.
Conceived under Lufthansa’s “Non Stop You” positioning and “More Indian Than You Think” philosophy, the Lufthansa #cookandfly contest celebrates India’s cultural and cuisine diversity and aims to engage with target audiences on a topic close to their heart – their food preferences. Hosted on Facebook, the contest also harnessed the power and reach of social media and received overwhelming response with entry submissions pouring even after the submission timeline was over.
Mr. Wolfgang Will, Director, South Asia, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, said, “Lufthansa’s presence in India of 60 years gives it an unparalleled understanding of the needs of its Indian customers. The brand has made huge progress towards embracing Indian culture and its needs and the contest provides the right opportunity to not only help us understand India’s food preferences but also help our Indian customers see the brand’s “Indian” side and connect with the brand even more. We are also happy that our decision to host the contest on a social media platform helped us reach out to a wider target audience especially the younger audiences and connect with a new target group. Our brand philosophy of “Nonstop You” gets very well integrated with the contest as the winning recipe becomes a part of our inflight menu. This definitely goes on to reflect a more Indianized version of the brand.
We are also very pleased to partner with The Leela for the second season of the contest and are thankful to our esteemed jury members, MasterChef Kunal Kapur, MasterChef Vinod Saini, and Lufthansa’s culinary expert for the Asian region, Chef Thomas Brockenauer, for their invaluable expertise and advice in planning and putting together this contest.”
Commenting on the contest, Mr. Rajiv Kaul, President, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts said, “We are delighted to expand our partnership with Lufthansa to showcase the hidden culinary talent of India and help them spread their wings. The Leela reflects the essence of India and our Master chefs Kunal Kapur and Vinod Saini take pride in bringing the finest Indian culinary experiences from our signature Kitchen – Jamavar - to the skies. We have brought this ethos to the campaign to help celebrate the diverse culinary heritage of India.”
Kunal Kapur, Executive Sous Chef at The Leela Ambience Gurgaon, added, “I am really happy to be associated and judge the Lufthansa CookandFly contest, as I believe it's a great platform to bring in the hidden talent and gems from all over India. As I believe cooking is the only art which evolves all five senses and a great meal needs to impress them all.”
