pune pune hosted the first round of the fourth edition of young chef olympiad yco a culinary competition on tuesday the international cooking competition which features over 55 countries competing for the coveted yco trophy and a cash prize of 10000 is supported by ministry of tourism government of indiathe first round which was held at international institute of hotel management iihm pune featured 10 of the 55 countries cooking as per recipe provided in two hours for poached egg florentine and lemon souffl a statement issued by iihmyco was created as a platform by noted hospitality school iihm for young chefsintraining from around the world to interact and showcase their talent the previous three editions saw an increasingly positive response from the international hospitality community making the event benchmark for the industry across the worldrupinder singh khurana director iihm pune said in the statement that iihm pune was delighted to host all the participants of group e from countries such as philippines egypt south korea kenya armenia greece turkey namibia mauritius and malta it was a great opportunity for all of us to connect learn and share ideas on this wonderful platform called young chef olympiad it was extremely enlightening to observe how thee budding talents from across the world came together and formed a camaraderie that transcended the competition i wish them all the best for the further roundsyco also hosted a unique international culinary forum on 29th january at the westin pune featuring eminent chefs mentors and other personalities from across the world and the city the forum featured twopanel discussions engaging in discourse about the various issues of the industry and potential solutions