INTRO
Chocolate. It’s a beautiful and incredibly versatile thing. This month, Chef’s Roll is teaming up with Callebaut to host the “Think Outside The Box” chocolate cooking contest, allowing chefs in the United States to compete in 10 categories. Ultimately, a winner from each category – 10 people total – will be flown to Mexico, the birthplace of chocolate, for a trip full of adventure, fine dining, and chocolate!
There are two rounds of competition. The first involves submitting a photo of your original chocolate creation. The second involves telling us why you and your entry deserve to win! Read through this entire page to learn what’s at stake as well as how to enter. Here’s a brief outline:
- The Prize
- How to Enter (Round One)
- The Categories
- Judging Round One
- Round Two
- Judging
- Timeline Summary
THE PRIZE
If you’re selected as one of the 10 winners, you will be invited to participate in an exclusive 5-day, 4-night excursion to Mexico City in Fall 2018. The trip will encompass a privately-guided experience of the region, including fine dining and the best street food in the city, a tour of a cacao plantation, a journey into the heart of a local “mercado”, and much more.
HOW TO ENTER
The contest will take place over two rounds. To enter initially, you must prepare an original chocolate creation, made with Callebaut chocolate, in one of the 10 categories listed below. We’ll ask you to share a hi-res photo and brief description of the dish with us. Just click this button and fill out the form to enter before August 3rd:
[update: You do not need to submit a full recipe – all you need is a photo and brief description.]
[Entry is now closed]
Uploading Multiple Photos: Our form only allows you to post one photo as a part of your entry, but if you would like to share multiple photos or a video of your creation, you can post it to a public Instagram or Facebook profile, using the hashtag: #CallebautOutsideTheBox and tagging us (@chefsroll) and Callebaut (@callebautchocolate) – both in the caption and, on Instagram, in the photo itself.
Entering in Multiple Categories: You are welcome to enter in as many categories as you’d like, however, each entry must be an obviously different dish, recipe, or creation. You are also only allowed to enter once per category.
Remember, the quality of your entry photo is a huge part of this contest, so even if you only upload one photo, make sure that the photo presents your creation clearly, is well lit, and is high-resolution.
THE CATEGORIES
1. Plated Dessert
2. Entremets / Specialty cakes
3. Pastry “To-Go” (petit gâteau, gâteau de voyage, tarts, etc)
4. Confectionery (bonbons, tablets, truffles, etc)
5. Bakery (cookies, muffins, scones, brownies, cupcakes, etc)
6. Breakfast Breads (breads, viennoiseries , waffles, crepes, pancakes, etc)
7. Verrines
8. Ice Cream (ice cream, sorbet, gelato, milk shakes, etc)
9. Savory Applications
10. Mixology
JUDGING ROUND ONE
After the recipe submission deadline on August 3rd, the team of judges will begin working to select the standout entries in each category. There won’t be a set number here. All of the entries that truly blow us away with their technique, creativity, and overall appeal will move on to the next round. Semifinalists will be announced on August 10th.
ROUND TWO
It may be the case that just two entries in a given category move forward. Or maybe ten will! Nevertheless, in the next round, all semifinalists will be required to post a video on a public Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube channel. In the video, you must explain why your recipe deserves to win it all, and also explain why you love chocolate and want to win the trip to Mexico. Your video should be 60 seconds or less.
Round Two will run from August 10th through August 27th at 11:59pm PDT.
JUDGING ROUND TWO
After the August 27th video posting deadline, the judges will take a few days to select a winner in each category. Winners and runners up will be announced on September 5th!
TIMELINE RECAP
• July 11 – Launch
• August 3 – Last day to submit
• August 4-9 – Judging
• August 10 – Announce semifinalists in each category
• August 10-27 – Video submissions
• Aug 28-Sept 4 – Video judging
• Sept 5 – Winner announcements
GOOD LUCK CHEFS!
If you have any questions, just contact support@chefsroll.com
