Pasadena resident Lidia Haddadian, a home chef who has been a champion in the World Food Championships (WFC) twice, is again participating in the contest’s final culinary gauntlet, “Final Table: Indy,” which this year is being held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
From there, Hadddadian could win and take home the $100,000 grand prize.
Haddadian is facing off against nine other champions who have navigated three cooking challenges in their quest to earn the biggest title in food sport.
The winner of the competition will be revealed on Saturday, Oct. 3, on The Cooking Channel, which will highlight the competitors’ food sport journey and reveal the intensity of the competition as the aspiring chefs face-off in Indiana-specific challenges.
The World Food Championships (WFC) is the highest stakes food competition in the world. The live, multiple-day culinary competition showcases some of the world’s best cooks who compete for food, fame, and fortune in 10 categories: Bacon, Barbecue, Burger, Chef, Dessert, Recipe, Sandwich, Seafood, Soup, and Steak.
In 2019, more than 450 culinary teams from 11 countries and 42 American states competed in WFC’s Main Event. Haddadian was the Recipe category champion in that competition. In 2018, she was champion in the Chicken category.
The 10 competitors this year won their spot to compete at the “Final Table: Indy” event by emerging from WFC’s 2019 Main Event, where they beat out almost 500 teams to become the champions in their category. Not only did they obtain a new culinary title to add to their repertoire, but each champion also won a $10,000 grand prize. In August, they reconvened at Indy’s Ivy Tech Culinary Center to battle three more times, this time with a $100,000 prize at stake.
Before her debut at the “Final Table: Indy,” Haddadian had won about $83,000 in prizes competing in food sport events over 10 years.
When asked what she would do with the $100,000 grand prize, she said the first thing she’ll do is buy a new pair of tennis shoes after a weekend of running around the kitchen. She also said she doesn’t exactly know how she will spend it, but she intends on using it wisely and with integrity.
For her challenges at Final Table: Indy, Haddadian made sweet and spicy sticky baby back ribs with Asian flair, and sesame miso gnocchi with cucumber salad; an Asian roasted duck with fried wild rice; and her own sugar cream pie, which is the Indiana state pie. She incorporated several elements, including phyllo dough, cherry coulis, pistachio praline and rose kiss Chantilly, which is whip cream with a rose flavor.
“Final Table: Indy” airs at 4 p.m. Saturday on The Cooking Channel.