a display of culinary expertise

Food critics, bloggers and enthusiasts are in for a treat as they can witness the expertise of culinary geniuses along with getting a chance to explore various facets of Indian cuisine. Indian Culinary Forum along with the Hospitality First and ITPO hosted the ‘Culinary Art India 2016’ on Tuesday at Pragati Maidan. 

The event, which is a part of Aahar International Food and Hospitality fair, will see culinary exhibitions, competitions and live cooking contests apart from stalls of food products from around the globe being held at the venue. It is a platform to create awareness about the profession of chefs and felicitate the achievers. The five-day event will go on till March 19.  

The event has around 300 chefs exhibiting their skills under one roof and participating in various categories of competitions. All the jury members for the competitions are WACS (World Association of Chefs Societies) certified chefs and renowned food critics.

Chef Shanli Ong Beng Yew from Malaysia, who is presiding as the chairperson of the jury, said, “We are evaluating the preparations on the levels of creativity of the chefs through taste, proportion and presentation of the dishes. First the eye appeal and then the taste matters, that is the whole idea of culinary art. So far I have seen that the young Indian chefs are very innovative and creative with their methods of cooking.”

The event started with chefs showcasing authentic Indian regional cuisine. Other categories of competitions include artistic pastry showpiece, fruit and vegetable carving, petit fours and pralines, three-course dinner menu, three tier wedding cakes, plated appetisers and pralines, dress the cake, artistic bakery showpiece, plated desserts and mocktails.

Chef Devinder Kumar, President, Indian Culinary Forum said, “The overall participation has increased this year. We evaluate them based on the merits and maintain total transparency. Only the best of the best are awarded for specific categories. It is also a very good platform for visitors, as they also get to see the latest trends in cooking.” The winners of the competitions will be announced on March 19, at the end of the event. 

Chef Lukesh Bajaj, one of the participants in the category of authentic Indian regional cuisine said, “North Indian cuisine is my specialty. I have put up two main courses, including vegetarian dishes and non-vegetarian dishes, rice, chapattis and two desserts-‘phirni’ and chocolate ‘gulab jamun’. I had a great experience participating in today’s competition.” 

Among several stalls of processed food and beverages were Tops, India Gate, and many foreign brands from around the world. 

The Aahar International Food and Hospitality Fair is not only a forum for exhibiting culinary skills but also a large platform for entrepreneurs and food brands to showcase their products and stimulate business-to-business and business-to-customers sales.