The event tested the hospitality skills of aspiring professionals who came from Chennai, Salem, Yercaud, Tiruchirapalli and from in and around Coimbatore. Apart from the culinary talents, where the stress was on original and innovative recipes, students also had to know the art of turning leftover food into saleable products.
The thrust of the talent hunt, in which 13 colleges took part, was on finding the complete hospitality professional who apart from being an imaginative cook was a good communicator and planner who also has excellent presentation skills.
The zing thing
`Shakes and Stirs', the cocktail and mocktail competition had wannabe bartenders calling their spirit blends everything from Moulin Rouge to Agnidravya. Some went the extra mile to add a zing to their drink. They burnt whiskey and mixed their drink with a flourish that put on display their juggling skills.
It was quintessential India at `Maharaj', the cookery competition. The young chefs dug deep into the exquisite cuisine of regions near and afar and while some chose to go by the book, others dared to innovate by giving an alien cuisine a personal touch.
The students of Karpagam Arts and Science College not only laid out a spread of Kerala food but also created a feel of God's Own Country. Kathakali masks carved out of pumpkins sat pretty along with neatly folded pathiri to be served with beef curry and vegetable stew.
Call of the East
While Malabar parotta, jackfruit payasam and fish curry were aplenty, a few daring students from Shevaroys decided to try out cuisine from the North East. They left the pulao to cook in bamboo, made prawn curry the Assamese way and turned out a sweet dish with carrots.
For those who liked familiar food, there were methi rotis, mixed pulao, rajma curry and badam katlis. For some the "difference quotient" just meant food sans pepper and turmeric but there were those who truly impressed like the students of Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai who made dahi ka halwa with curd and rava.
Dressed to kill
`Saladier' (salad competition) offered a range of salads from sprouts and vegetables dressed with mayonnaise and tamarind syrup to stuffed pastas with peanut butter. Some reduced the salad to a mere mix of cut vegetables begging for attention, while others went by the rulebook to give it a proper base and dressing.
A whole new world was carved out of vegetables for the carving competition. Yams gave way to the Eiffel Tower, flowers bloomed from watermelons, tapioca became rats and Shiva and Parvathi emerged from pumpkins.
`Sweet Skin' (cake decoration) had bakers giving the cakes an attractive finish in icing.
`The restaurateur' gave all those who dreamt of owning a hotel a day an opportunity to design their kitchen and restaurant, plan their menu as well as work out the staff requirement for the designed hotel.
Students were grilled on their knowledge of the hospitality industry and current affairs during the quiz. They also had to showcase their skills in flower arrangement (`Blossom').
At the end of the daylong talent hunt, Cenney's Institute of Hotel Management, Salem, went home with the top prize while Cherraan's Arts and Science College, Kangeyam, and Shevaroys, Yercaud, were declared the joint runners-up.
ANIMA BALAKRISHNAN
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