Meet this teenager from Chennai who has won four silver medals in Culinary Olympics 2020!

Expert at vegetable and fruit carving, Yeshwanth Kumar from Chennai is a pride for the country. Read below his journey to Culinary Olympics 2020!

Representing the country feels extraordinarily special whereas winning acts as a major add-on to it. Yeshwanth Kumar Umasankar knows this feeling very well as he has won four silver medals at IKA/Culinary Olympics 2020.

The 17-year-old from Chennai had participated in four events held in February, in Germany. Apart from him, 2,000 people from more than 60 countries had also participated where Yeshwanth was the youngest of all being 16-year-old.

His interest in cooking and culinary arts started at the age of nine. "I used to observe my father closely while he was equipped with food carving," Yeshwanth said. He also said that he used to be amazed at the fruit and vegetable carving done by his father.

Yeshwanth's father, Umasankar Dhanapal is also a chef. He has represented India in the Culinary Olympics 2012 and 2016 and won two bronze medals. Yeshwanth said that he got to know about the Olympics from his father.

Journey towards medals

"There was no time constraint in the first event but I had to showcase the best presentation," Yeshwanth said. He participated in Classical vegetable and fruit carving, being the first, with Live vegetable and fruit carving, the second. "For the second event, a 3-hour-time and size limit was defined," he said. He also participated in "artistry made from pastillage and gum paste", being the other categories. "We were told that the height for the gun paste should not exceed beyond 60 cm," Yeshwanth said. He also said that the competition was tough as the Olympics observes the best professional chefs around the world.

Yeshwanth believes that the 6-hour daily practise of culinary art helped him a lot. "I had also gone to China after taking the 10th exams, for training," he said. However, he never compromised on his studies. "My parents and I realised that the dates of exams and the Olympics could clash. After that, they got me to National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)," he said. Yeshwanth scored 401/500 through NIOS.

The teenage chef runs a YouTube channel and posts videos of cooking and carving. Talking about future endeavours, Yeshwanth said that he wants to be an all-rounder chef. "Usually, people specialise in certain areas of cooking but I want to learn them all," he said. Apart from this, he also aims to open a Culinary studio to provide training to chefs.

Also Read: 15-Year-Old Gitanjali Rao, an Indian-American became Time Magazine’s first-ever ‘Kid of the Year’

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