Exhilarating Expedition into the Gastronomical Allies of Indian Culture at BCIHMCT

The King of Gourmet Cooking, Chef Rakesh Sethi, Executive Chef at Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, judged R-Pure Regional India Culinary Contest at BCIHMCT during the 3 day Mega Event – Chandiwala Hospitality Ensemble on October 7, 2015, where the participating teams had to prepare a starter, a main course along with 1 rice and 1 bread accompaniment and a dessert as per the regional specialty. Chef Sethi was overwhelmed to witness the upcoming talent and creativity. He commented, “The research done by students in putting forth traditional recipes is outstanding, and also they are the power houses in storing knowledge and presenting the dishes. Dishes like chutney made of ants, roasted chicken cooked on Palm tree logs and Kashmiri Cuisine are deeply attached to culture and attention-grabbing.” His advice to upcoming chefs is to join the industry initially and then only start their own venture.

Chandiwala Hospitality Ensemble is an annual national level competition for hotel management students competing in various culinary and hotel management related fields. The event has completed 14 successful years of honing hospitality skills of all participating colleges by bringing together the Culinary Skills and Hospitality Knowledge of students from across India.

The promising cheftestants brought together the ethnic cuisines with regional delicacies, presented traditionally from a vast array of recipes prepared with explicit elements at the R-Pure Regional India Culinary Contest. The contest went on for 3 hours and thereafter judged by Chef Ishant Khanna, Sous Chef, The Oberoi New Delhi and Chef Ashwini Kumar Singh, Chef De Cuisine, Kempinski Hotel, along with Chef Rakesh Sethi. Out of  24 participating teams, the winners were IHM Dehradun with the preparations being  Arbi Aloo ke Gutke, Lal Chawal Ka Pulao, Lesu, Jhangure ki Kheer, Gahat ki Gaturi, Bhanglu aur Til ki Chutney, Kukud Ghandrani and Kaale Bhaat ke Dubke. IHM Srinagar prepared Kashmiri Cuisine and stood second, with Auro University being the runners up.