For the last three months, students of Arvind Institute of Vocational Excellence, a centre for people with special needs that is based in K.K. Nagar, have been practising how to make lemon iced tea. The tea is on the menu planned for a two-hour food festival on September 2, which will be conducted as part of a training programme on cooking and culinary arts offered by the vocational centre.
The upcoming event will mark the fourth edition of the food fest. The theme of this edition is fruits. Students are being trained to prepare fruit chat, banana pancake, banana ( nendram ) bajji, banana chips and mocktail juices.
“Besides showing them to cook food, the objective of the food festival is train our students in how to interact with clients. Towards this end, there will be a simulation of a restaurant,” says Sudha Athmaraj, co-founder, Arvind Foundation.
In the past, the centre had invited culinary professionals to teach its students.
Last year, a chef from Hotel Ambassador Pallava taught the students the art of serving food and setting the table. The chef conducted six sessions for our students over a period of six months.
Focus on millets
This April, the vocational centre organised a food festival on millets.
“It was well received by the residents of KK Nagar. The students were trained to prepare thinai adai, vazhapoo vadai and samai payasam ,” says Revathy Rakesh, vice-principal of Arvind Foundation.
The food festival will be held from 4.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. at the premises of the vocational centre at KK Nagar
