Chefs from various Spice Route countries will prepare cuisine of their home countries with a dash of spices from Kerala as part of a competition to be held during the four-day Spice Route Culinary Festival to be organised in Kochi from September 23.
A competition for local chefs too will be held.
The qualification rounds will be held from September 1-8. Professional chefs and amateur enthusiasts can participate.
Selected contestants in both categories will compete in the finals to be held at Bolgatty Palace and Resorts in Kochi on September 26, the final day of the culinary festival.
Unveiling the logo of the festival at a press conference here on Tuesday, Minister for Tourism A.C. Moideen said the event was a great opportunity to refortify the State’s ancient links with the 31 countries along the historical Spice Route.
The festival would help exchange of ideas, promote understanding between different cultures and traditions, and also help facilitate trade opportunities with these countries, he added.
The programme is held under the aegis of the Spice Route project, an initiative of Kerala Tourism in partnership with UNESCO.
Local flavour
Director of Tourism U.V. Jose said the participants would have to use Kerala spices sourced from the local markets during the first day of the contest.
“We are expecting 20 entries from abroad,” he added.
Application forms, downloaded from the Kerala Tourism website www.keralatourism.org, should be sent via email or submitted by August 27 at the entrant’s nearest competition venue — State Institute of Hotel Management, Kozhikode (0495-2385861, sihmcalicut@gmail.com); Food Craft Institute, Kalamassery (0484-2558385, foodcraftkly@gmail.com); and the Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology at Kovalam (0471-2480283, 2480774,principal@ ihmctkovalam.org). Participants from the State should include a recipe for four portions of a traditional Kerala dish, highlighting the judicious use of traditional ingredients and spices.
Each contestant needs to prepare and present five portions of the same dish for the competition in three hours.
Chefs from abroad will evaluate the dishes.
The winner and two runners-up will be felicitated during the valedictory session.
All participants will be issued certificates by Kerala Tourism.
