Traditional flavours win praise at The Hindu’s ‘Our State Our Taste’ prelims

G. Sasi, 63, from Gandhi Park was adjudged the winner of the Coimbatore prelims of the third edition of The Hindu’s ‘Our State Our Taste’ held in Coimbatore on Saturday when her simple preparation of uzhundhu kali, smoked eggplant with sambal and semiya idli won the praise of the panel of judges.

A panel of three judges headed by K. Damodharan (Chef Damu) judged the preparations brought to the venue by participants for their taste, presentation and flavour of Tamil Nadu.

Mohana Pandiyan, 32, from Kovilmedu near Edayarpalayam who presented a platter of Mappillai Virundhu comprising 28 dishes was declared the first runner-up. Carrot-thinai payasam, samai ragi kali, kaima macaroni, macaroni with apple and shahi chicken lajawab won the second runner-up title for Zabeena Yasmin, 40, from Podanur.

Chef Damu, who judged the preparations along with chefs Jegan Rajkumar and Arul Selvan, lauded the participants for presenting a wide range of preparations they cooked and brought for the prelims of the contest, grand finale of which will be held in Chennai.

The participants were allowed to bring vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes, with a minimum of two dishes, and one representing the flavour of Tamil Nadu with “Namba Ooru Namba Savorit Pasta”.

Gowri Ramakrishnan, assistant managing trustee, Sri Avinashilingam Education Trust; T. Subramaniam, distributor, Vidiem Kitchen Appliances; G. Aravind, partner, RKG Ghee; S. Sabari, partner, RKG Ghee; R.K. Rajesh, brand manager at Kaleesuwari Refinery Private Limited; M. Suresh, distributor, Savorit; Radhika Jagajeevanram, category head, Savorit; C. Santhosh, cluster head, Madhuram Rice; J. Shanker Krishnan, partner, Kannan Jubilee Coffee Company; Pradeep Gangadharan, general manager (marketing), WayCool Foods and Products Private Limited were present at the event held at Jennys Residency (venue partner).

Vidiem Appliances is the title sponsor of the cooking contest which is powered by Savorit and Madhuram. It is being held in association with RKG Ghee and Cardia Advanced Groundnut Oil, the event has LG Asafoetida as the asafoetida partner, Naga Food as the associate partner, ITC Mangaldeep as divinity partner, Everest Masala as spices partner, Karur Vysya Bank as banking partner, Aval Vikatan as magazine partner, Hindu Tamil Thisai as media partner, Kalaignar TV as general entertainment channel partner and Kalaignar Seidhigal as news channel partner.