Silver for gold for Khéma at Cambodia National Culinary Competition

If you thought our cakes are winners, it turns out you’re not alone. We are thrilled to announce that Khéma Pasteur’s pastry chef Pen Sotheany won a silver medal at the Cambodia National Culinary Competition held at the Culinary Academy of Cambodia over the weekend of 19 to 21 January. Sotheany took second place in the Live Cake Decoration competition with her stunningly elegant golden chocolate, salted caramel, peanut and jasmine cake. And it’s as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, with a dense, rich chocolatey mousse on a crispy bed of peanut and salted caramel and the soft scent of jasmine throughout.

Sotheany has been with Khéma for four years now, creating and putting the fabulous finishing touches on the cakes that turn every encounter into a celebration and every celebration into a spectacular occasion. This is her third competition and the third time she has picked up a medal. We’re incredibly proud of her and all of her achievements.

Sotheany was one of fifty-six chefs who came from across the Kingdom to showcase their skills during the three-day competition. In nine different categories, including appetisers, vegetarian cooking, seafood, Cambodian cuisine and live cake decoration, they sweated and fretted over the details, the timings and the desire to be the best. It was a tough competition, strictly applying international standards. It is important that Cambodia’s chefs start to see themselves on an international plane and this is part of that process.

Therefore, the competition was overseen by members of the Cambodia Chefs Federation as well as representatives from World Chefs (also known as WACS: World Association of Chefs’ Societies). This is the international body that sets the standards for cheffing competitions across the globe and their standards are rigorous.

Cambodia’s chefs are approaching a point where they need to look beyond their own borders for inspiration and experience, and to do that they have to be able to compete at the same level as any chef from France, California or Tokyo. And based on the results seen during the competition, they are getting there.

For our part, we already knew that Sotheany is world-class, and her beautiful, prize-winning cake will soon be available at Khéma where you will be able to buy it in individual portions. Keep an eye out for the Silver Medal!