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This past May, we made our way to Manchester to witness our Southeast Asian talents showcase their skills to the Premier League champions, Manchester City – all thanks to Wolf Blass. The award-winning Australian winery launched a SEA competition seeking passionate and talented individuals to grant them a trip of a lifetime to meet and showcase their skills to Manchester City stars.
The trip wrapped up perfectly (similar to Manchester City’s season), and it is fair to say that Malaysia’s representative, Chef Carrie Scully had a fulfilling trip. From quitting the corporate life to chasing a personal passion for cooking, Chef Carrie can now cross ‘teaching football players to cook’ off her bucket list.
The chef has landed
Having flown more than 10,000km from Kuala Lumpur to London, Chef Carrie witnessed Manchester City in their ultimate game – the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium. Chef Carrie was raring to go as she joined in the festivities.
From KL’s hot and humid climate to the crisp, cool London weather, Chef Carrie definitely enjoyed every bit of the trip. She found it both inspiring and overwhelming to be surrounded by Manchester City fans assembling to see their players bring home another trophy — and the team did not disappoint. With a thumping 6-0 victory over Watford, Chef Carrie stepped into the shoes of the blue Mancunian fans who tirelessly chanted the team’s anthems throughout the day, leaving her with fond memories of Manchester’s thunderous zest for life.
A meetup in Manchester
After a 2-hour train journey from London to Manchester, Chef Carrie continued her passion-filled expedition by visiting Etihad Stadium. On an exclusive tour that even VIP holders don’t typically get access to, Chef Carrie got to see the Man City players’ locker room, training room, and even got to walk out to pitch like the players. She also got to learn more about the club’s whirlwind history that had its downs and ups.
Fast forward 24 hours and Chef Carrie was all nerves as she waited to meet the three champions from Manchester City to share her restaurant’s signature dish. Whilst their football skills are unparalleled, her signature Tiki Taka Tiradito dish was a challenging one and she was not certain that the Man City stars would be able to pull this off.
First team players Claudio Bravo, Fabian Delph and Fernandinho Luiz Roza arrived ready to take on Chef Carrie’s challenge of making the best Tiradito. After her initial interaction with the players, she was blown away by their focus and dedication. In the end, Claudio Bravo edged out his teammates as the winner of Chef Carrie’s cooking challenge. He managed to replicate the chef’s original dish as closely as possible, leaving her with a viable option in mind if she ever needs another chef at Tiki Taka.
Cooking for the future
This incredible opportunity from Australia’s award-winning winery, Wolf Blass, has inspired Chef Carrie ideas to pursue other avenues in the cooking industry such as teaching workshops within her restaurant in the near future.
In the meantime, Carrie is looking forward to enjoying a family cookout back at home in Penang, with her dad’s home-style chili crab with grilled caramelized pineapples, paired with a few glasses of Wolf Blass Gold Label Chardonnay (that’s actually Carrie’s secret pairing combination!).
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