Penza, 23 June 2015. PenzaNews. The “Best Cook” contest for inmates started in the mess hall of the Penza penal colony No. 1 on Tuesday, June 23.

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A total of five participants struggle for the winning position.

This is the first such event in the history of the penal system in the Penza region, said Alexander Korobov, acting deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service department in the Penza region.

“The contestants here were chosen in the preliminaries held earlier. Today, we are having the final, second stage of the competition,” he explained.

The competition is useful not only for the inmates but for the staff of the penal institutions as well, and the skills gained in preparation to it will help inmates find their calling after release, Alexander Korobov said.

“The winners will receive prizes from the cannery of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service: cakes and footballs. And, of course, everyone will receive gratitude from their penitentiary institutions,” he said.

The acting head of the department said the contest faces together both educated and self-taught cooks.

In the second stage of the contest, the participants have to make at least two meals in 120 minutes using a similar set of goods – two kinds of flour, grain, macaroni, meat, fish, margarine, sunflower seed oil, eggs, sugar, salt, bayleaf, ground mustard, tomato paste, potatoes, vegetables and instant vitamin-infused kissel drink.

Each contestant can use a two-section hot plate and all the necessary kitchen utilities, as well as chef clothes.

Each meal will be rated using a 5-grade scale.

The contestants will be rated in such categories as their personal look, knowledge of safety, sanitary and cooking standards, uniqueness of meals and their names, as well as taste and serving.