Gems, pani–puri, rusk, rice flour, mint leaves, dry fruits, shredded carrot, beetroot, condensed milk, syrups — it was a sweet platter indeed. Fortyeight participants made it to the Young World Sweet Chef competition despite the rains that lashed the city. From the beginning, it was a flurry of activity. Armed with aprons, gloves, and a range of ingredients, they whipped up 48 mouth-watering desserts.
The judges, Sruthi Murali and Sneha Murali, Directors, Sri Krishna Sweets and Chef R. Rajesh, Area Director, Food Production, The Park, had a tough time choosing winners especially because each sweet was different. Winning the competition with her very innovative concept of recreating the essence of Taj Mahal was Haniya Rubbani, (IV, National Public School). Samhith Joy Thomas, VIII, Lady Andal Venkata Subbarao School, came second with his white mice, and winning the third prize was Tisha V’s Oreo Nut Delight. Tisha is a Std VI student from SBOA MHSS.
The winners took home cash awards of Rs. 7000, Rs. 5000 and Rs. 3000 from Shriram City, a voucher from Eden and hampers from Sri Krishna Sweets, Soulfull, smartshoppers.in and a Young World mug.
All participants were given certificates and a gift hamper each from Sri Krishna Sweets and Soulfull.
What the judges say
Chef R. Rajesh, Area Director, Food Production, The Park: It was a great idea to involve kids. While I have judged cooking contests before, this was the first time I am judging fireless cooking. Though it seems simple, it is in fact more challenging. All the contestants were able to explain the thought behind their dishes. It is important that we encourage more kids to cook. They need to be aware of where their food comes from and must stay connected to the environment.
Sruthi Murali and Sneha Murali, Directors, Sri Krishna Sweets
This is the first time we’re judging a cooking competition and it was an amazing experience. We’re glad to see kids take an interest in cooking. What we really liked is that they were innovative in their approach to fireless cooking. They were clear about what they were doing and most of them had a story to their items — they weren’t arbitrarily mixing ingredients, but had a specific reason behind each dish they were making. Clearly a lot of thought had gone into each dish, given that the participants had an hour in which to make them, it was impressive that some of them made multiple items.
It was also evident that the kids are an informed lot and were aware of how people are health conscious. Some of them made sweets using ingredients like aval (beaten rice) instead of using chocolates.
Sweetspeak
Avinash, VI, Kendriya Vidyalaya:
Though I’ve cooked before, this is my first cooking competition. I make Naan, Tandoori Chicken, Panneer Tikka and other North Indian foods. I also make good sandwiches. I’ve been inspired by Master Chef.
Yashwin Kumar, V, AVM School:
My father is a chef at KFC, so he asked me to participate after reading about it in the paper. I like cooking. I wanted to try my hand at something new, so I made dates and oats laddu .
Pranav P.J, V, DAV Adambakkam:
I gave my granny’s rava laddu a twist by making Deepavali-shaped sweets using channa dal powder, cocoa and condensed milk. Since it was a Deepavali-based contest, I thought it would be fun to make my sweets in the shape of diyas . I’m happy I got a chance to take part in this competition.
Smruthi S Narayan, VII, The Hindu Senior Secondary School:
I am excited that I could take part in this competition. I have never been to competitions before. I had attended workshops where we were taught to make sweets. When an announcement came in the paper about the competition, I decided to participate as I now know how to make sweets.
Triumphant Three
1. Haniya Rubbani, IV, National Public School:
My aunt suggested I make a dish with paneer as it as easy to mould into different shapes. My mother gave me the idea of making strawberry flavoured sandesh . A couple of weeks ago, I had read about the Taj Mahal in Young World , and how it was built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz. The story also mentioned how the Taj changed colours depending on the time of the day, and how it appears pink in the mornings. So I used rose essence to give the dish a pink tinge.
2. Samhith Joy Thomas, VIII, Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao Matriculation School:
This was my first cooking contest. I love eating sweets, and I wanted to do something different. So I used my mother’s recipe and made rats from desiccated coconut milk powder, milkmaid and dry fruits. I practised last night.
3. Tisha, VI, SBOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School:
It is the first time I am participating in such a competition. I got to practise for a day. I wanted to make a new recipe, so I made Oreo nuts delight.
Taj Sandesh
Ingredients:
> Digestive biscuits : 1 packet
> Butter: 4 Tbsp
> Paneer : 400 gm
> Strawberry crush: 4 tbsp
> Blueberry crush: 4 tbsp
> Sugar: 4 tbsp
> Rose flavouring: Few drops
> Pink colouring: A pinch
> Pistachios: 8 - 10 kernels
> Fried figs : 2
> Saffron; Few strands
Method:
Powder the digestive biscuits fine and mix it with butter.
Take a six cm biscuit mould and set the biscuit mixture as thick base.
Mix sugar and paneer till the sugar is dissolved and the paneer becomes creamy and fluffy.
Separate the paneer mix into halves.
Spread one half on a clean plate and let it rest for five minutes.
Add rose flavouring and pink colour to the other half and leave it for five minutes.
Take the biscuit base and spread the strawberry crush on it in a thin layer in the mould.
Take the rose flavoured paneer and put it in the mould into a thick layer.
Spread the blueberry crush into a thin layer in the mould.
Take the first half paneer and spread into a thick layer in the mould.
Garnish with crushed pistachio, saffron strands and fig pieces.
