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Chefs preparing for Culinary Fusion Contest | Photo by Ella Snyder, the Orlando Life
Meet 11 Orlando Chefs Fusing Cultures in their Dishes
Published July 17, 2025
“In the last couple of years, Orlando changed. I think there’s not so many fast food places anymore,” Certified Master Chef Alex Erdmann said.
As the city continues to evolve, fast food is phasing out and authentic cultural food is becoming more popular.“There’s more places where you get the real foods, food that reflects the real countries, not Americanized food. We got a couple of Michelin stars, yeah? I’m very happy to see that.”
Alex is the Dean of Valencia’s School of Culinary Arts and was recently a judge at the non-profit FusionFest’s latest event.
Celebrating culture, creativity, and cuisine, FusionFest held a Culinary Fusion Contest at the Walt Disney World Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts. On July 8th and 10th, 11 chefs competed for prizes up to 1,000 dollars, preparing dishes for a set of six judges and 30 guests. Each dish fused cuisines of at least two different cultures.
As contestants shared their food, they also shared stories.
“Learning more about you is as much a joyful experience as enjoying your food, and in some degree, enhances the food,” Director of Development at FusionFest Scott Galbraith told the chefs.
Many of the contests were inspired by their own cultures and experiences in the process of preparing for the competition.
Judge Alex Erdmann | Photo by Ella Snyder, the Orlando Life
Scott Galbraith and Maria Saavendra | Photo by Ella Snyder, the Orlando Life
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Alain Lemaire
Blending Haitian and Italian cuisine, Alain whipped up pasta with alfredo and shrimp. Both the pasta and sauce were made from dried black mushrooms typical to Haiti. The dish was topped with thyme, garlic, scallions, and peppers. Alain is no stranger to culinary competitions — he’s done four shows on the food network in addition to many local contests. “Timing is the most crucial part of it,” Alain said. Alain won second place in the first night of competition.
Chander Mohan
Merging Indian and Italian flavors, Chander put together chicken parmigiano with a butter sauce and a mint sauce. Now with 16 years of experience in the culinary arts, Chander is known for fusing Indian cuisine with flavors of other cultures.
Guests trying Chander’s dish | Photo by Ella Snyder, the Orlando Life
Claudia Ramirez
To honor her homeland of Venezuela and her Peruvian roots, Claudia made a dish that combined the two cuisines. The recipe also touches on inspiration from French culture. “I love that the French use sophisticated and delicate and elegant stuff,” Claudia said. This dish was the audience’s favorite on the first night of competition. Claudia is dedicated to continual learning and hopes to be on the top of her craft.
Judge Patrick Story tries Claudia’s dish | Photo by Ella Snyder, the Orlando Life
Elena Chitoroagi
Competition winner Elena had success with her liver pâté, which expertly mixed Moldovan and Italian cuisines. “I’m not just sharing the recipe, but the narrative,” Elena said. Inspired by the value of tomatoes in her Moldovan village of Ocnita, Elena arranged each serving of liver pâté into the shape of a tomato. Italian mariana sauce and pickled tomato juice topped the pâté. When accepting her 1,000 dollar check, Elena’s kids, which she calls her “mini chefs”, were by her side.
Fadila Kruger
Proving the guests something sweet, Fadila made South African spiced donuts known as Koeksisters. They were covered in cinnamon and cardamom syrup and drizzled with coconut. She paired this with a caramel ganache and a Korean red pepper paste known as gochujang. “I thought the spiciness of the Korean gochujang would go well with the warm spices of the South African donut.” Fadila was awarded second place on night two of competition.
Jamiel Winchester
Chef Jamiel was the only competitor to participate in both nights of festivities. On the first night, Jamiel made steamed cassava with a curry mango sauce, stewed pork belly, and a brown stew sauce. This dish mixed her Trindiadian roots with Chinese and Indian flavors. On the second night, Jamiel put together coconut shrimp curry tacos topped with cucumber chutney and tamarind sauce, once again referencing Trinidadian and Indian cuisine. Alongside her cooking endeavors, Jamiel is starting a Podcast called Brown Stew Girl. “It’s really to talk about how something as simple as stew chicken is a dish in every culture, right? Jamiel said. “So it’s something that’s affordable for everyone that can bring people to the table.”
Jonathan Woodbury
Jonathan presented a speciality from his in-home dining company The Legendary Experience: a pimento cheese risotto with honey cornbread. Originally from South Carolina, Jonathan is drawn to blending southern cooking with fine dining. For this dish, he implemented the Le Cordon Bleu French Technique. The judges awarded Jonathan first place on the second day of competition and second place overall.
Makenric Vil
Combining Mexican and Haitian cultures together, Makenric served crispy pork tacos with a citrus glaze. Makenric was born and raised in Miami Dade County, but now he spends a lot of his time on the move.
Mike Martino
Mike presented the judges a spicy tuna roll with an Italian twist. The tuna roll was served with yuzu and balsamic pearls, sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes, and arborio rice. Mike felt that the complexity of this dish represented him as a chef very well. “When you do 50 dishes and you have 12 elements to each one of the bites, it adds up really quickly, so sometimes I bite off more than I can chew. But we got it done.” Mike was awarded the audience choice award on the second night of competition.
Judge Gam Marotta with Mike’s Dish | Photo by Ella Snyder, the Orlando Life
Pablo Emilio
Pablo made a traditional Italian risotto with Puerto Rican and South Korean influences. The dish is infused with truffle honey and accompanied by an arugula chimichurri sauce. Pablo often enjoyed this meal at family gatherings and on his military base.
Yves Desravines
A lover of street food, Yves made stuffed arepas. “I had an experience where I had an arepa in Central Orlando, and that kind of gave me the idea to fuse Columbian culture with Haitian culture.” Making this dish, Yves was focused on perfecting both the flavors and the texture.
Judge Alicia Che-Junga Tastes Yves’ Dish | Photo by Ella Snyder, the Orlando Life
