Spice Route Culinary Festival Hits the High Note

KOCHI:
If the old adage about too many cooks spoiling the broth is the rule, Sunday proved an exception with the international cooking competition – the centerpiece event of the Spice Route Culinary Festival – laying out a bevy of delectable dishes.
Envisaged as a fresh beginning to the ambitious Spices Route project – an initiative of Kerala Tour
ism in association with UNESCO and the Union Tourism Ministry, the festival has proved to be that and more.
The international competition was kick started by S. Sharma, MLA, Vypeen, with the lighting of a traditional lamp at Bolgatty Palace and Island resort in the morning. The MLA invited the 15 participant countries to explore and discover not just the cuisines but also the cultures of the Spice Route.
The inauguration was attended by Ambassador of the Netherlands to India Alphonsus Stoelinga, Shigeru Aoyagi, Director and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Ms Moe Chiba, Culture Head at UNESCO India and U.V. Jose, Kerala Tourism Director.
“Food is a part of culture and helps to connect people. The Dutch government welcomes this wonderful initiative and will support efforts to promote the heritage shared by the countries of the Spice Route,” the Dutch Ambassador said.
Noting that chefs are transmitters of culture, Aoyagi said, “The Spice Route initiative celebrates not only our common legacy, but also our differences.”
Delivering the vote of thanks, Jose thanked the chefs and dignitaries from participating countries for being part of this unique event.
“This Culinary Festival is a great beginning to the Spice Route initiative. It is the first step to realising the true potential of the ‘Spice Route’ as a viable tourism offering f
or the state. Let us now take this forward through similar projects,” he said.
The crowds milling at the competition venue were treated to dazzling displays of culinary prowess and a selection of the choicest cuisines from along the historic Spice Route.
Leading chefs from Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, Oman, Turkey, Qatar, Netherlands, France, Malaysia, Italy and Japan poured their formidable kitchen talents into cooking three dishes – an entrée, main course and dessert – within the three-and-half hour allotted period.
With the competition’s all-star judges – noted chefs Vijay Nagpal, Debraj Bhaumik and Montu Saini, the executive chef to the President – doing the rounds, the 17 teams had to pull out all the stops to stand out.
The prizes merit such effort: the first place team gets a 15-night holiday voucher, the second prize is a 10-night holiday voucher while the third prize is a seven-night holiday voucher. The winning teams will all receive two airline return tickets in addition to a memento and certificate for each member.
The team from Turkey fired the first salvo, tabling their appetiser – an Ottoman Almond Soup – setting off a chain reaction of raised hands and shouts from the other contestants to draw the judges’ attention.
As the day winded down, murmurs about who would come out on top could be heard. That question will be answered at an award ceremony ahead of the valedictory function on Monday (September 26).
Before that, however, the finals of the ‘Kerala Chef’ competition – an initiative to promote local culinary flavours and talent from across the state – will round out the morning’s proceedings.