It was a scrumptious experience. Nine finalists. All men. Slicing and dicing, for culinary glory. But in the end, there could only be one Cookery King.
Over 130 men participated in the Cookery King Contest organised by The Hindu Metro Plus and Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil. It was on Sunday that the finalists – who had been selected by means of a rigorous process – had to prove their mettle by cooking live, before an audience and five judges.
From food fusions – a bridge between south India and the north – to desserts such as dark chocolate mousse, from crocodile shaped karelas to underscore that the vegetable is healthy, to a variant of biryani with as many as 10 different vegetables, and zafrani murgh to ruz bukhari , a dish from West Asia, the contest witnessed participants bringing out their culinary creativeness.
For some contestants, who are professionals and businessmen, cooking is a hobby. And after a long day at work, it’s serves as a stressbuster. The contest began at Mercure, KCP Hyderabad at 4 p.m. Each contestant was given two-and-a-half hours to prepare and present his dish.
Once the contestants were done, chefs Mridul Mandal, Vinay Kumar, S. Prabhakar, Sasthi Roy and Puneet Mehta began to judge the dishes. It was Syed A. Fatir Hassaan’s sheer, meaning milk in Persian and Urdu, won. “It’s actually an Awadhi dish made of basmati rice and handmade vermicelli. I gave it my own twist,” the cookery king said. The runners up were Ajay Kiram Pakala, who made Drunken Chicken, and Kumar Pamnani, who prepared Khoya Khoya Murgh .
While the winner was awarded ₹25,000, the first and second runners up were presented ₹15,000 and ₹10,000. All three would soon have their dishes credited in the hotel’s menu.
