Culinary Fusion Contest

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Create a fusion dish for a chance to win $1,000 award

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WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: Innovative chefs, adventurous culinary students, and creative home cooks to produce a unique dish combining ingredients, techniques, or spices from at least two different continents/cultures for a chance to win cash awards up to $1,000. Contestants need to prepare 40 samples of their fusion dish for judges and VIP guests.

HOW TO APPLY: Fill out the application and good luck!

IMPORTANT DATES

Thursday, May 1, 2025: Application Deadline
June 2025, Exact Dates TBD: Competition Dates
Saturday & Sunday, November 30 & December 1: FusionFest 7th Annual Festival

The Culinary Fusion Contest takes place at the beautiful Creative Village Campus in Valencia’s West Campus, Building 9 – Walt Disney World Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts.

Each contestant selected will receive $100 grocery money.
Serving plates (bamboo) are provided.
You must use the plates provided.
Indicate if you will need a bowl and it will also be provided.
Each contestant has their own stove, oven and cooking station (no fryers).
You may bring one assistant with you, and other chefs will often pitch in to help when you need an extra hand with plating.
You’ll be asked to explain your creative fusion and the heritages represented when your dish is served to the judges and audience.
There are volunteers from the school which will serve the plates.
Only seven (7) contestants each night.
There will be approximately 10 judges and 30 audience members.

There is a $1,000 cash prize for each category. There is also a $200 Second Place Prize EACH NIGHT and a $100 Audience Choice Award each night.

Create Your Masterpiece

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Need a little more to sign up?

Watch the recap of the 2023 Culinary Fusion Contest ->

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STELLA ARBELAEZ

Heritage: Colombia

Coming from a well-educated family and a good elementary education in Bogotá, Colombia, where she was considered “too energetic,” Stella’s family sent her, and her mother to the US to better afford higher education for all her siblings. She came to Queens, NY, where an aunt owned a gas station. During her high School years, although she was not fluent in English, she was accepted into an arts high school. After completing a BFA in Fine Arts Illustration, she continued with art classes and worked in the design field. That eventually led to a position with Walt Disney Animation in Orlando.

Her family suffered a number of tragedies – her father was killed in Colombia, her mother was killed in the US, her sister was dying of cancer.

Through the Disney connection she met a Californian and moved there to get married. After the birth of her daughter, she pursued a degree in early childhood education and devoted her life to her family. Her husband and his friends did not speak Spanish. She was not allowed to speak Spanish at the dinner table, and gradually lost touch with her Colombian heritage. She became a surprisingly “well- adapted” exotic person, rather than a true representation of her culture. An annual trip to a Colombian restaurant for her birthday and trips to visit her relatives in South Florida were the sole ties to Colombian culture.

While visiting her extended family in Florida, her marriage ended traumatically. This sent her into a couple of years of dark depression and self-condemnation. For her 48th birthday, she joined a Meet-Up group for a 4-day hike to the Appalachian Trail. “With every step I took”, she recalls, “I felt more alive. I felt the blood rush to my legs and my heart pumping to get me through the next mile.” Hiking the Florida National Scenic Trail in 2020, while reflecting on the person she had been, the person she now was, and the person she still wanted to be, led her back to art. Her mantra became, “Nature heals.”

Also, visiting her extended family in South Florida, she felt enveloped by the love and warmth of her childhood in Colombia with dance parties where they would dance salsa, merengue, and cumbia until the wee hours of the night, reveling in their festive traditions. Her little dog, Bobo, is a faithful companion.

MICHEAL ELLIOTT

Hi there, I am a writer, director & cinematographer local to the St.Pete area. I have worked on short films, commercials, and a couple of feature films, mainly in the camera or lighting department. I have also worked on several passion projects like “The Beat Within,” which was a short documentary following a women-led drum circle in Dunedin. I was an editor for a few years prior to trying my hand at shooting, so I shoot with the edit in mind. I am a South African-born immigrant who moved to the United States to study business management but fell in love with filmmaking and telling stories after being here for a few years. My direction changed from economics to making movies and telling stories. I believe documentary work is vital and important in current media and entertainment, especially to tell the stories of those who do not have a voice and are under represented. I would love to participate in your event and look forward to the challenge and excitement!