South India Culinary Challenge (SICC) Bakery and Pastry Display Challenge at FHW 2016 Bengaluru, encouraged chefs to prepare themselves for international exposure and explore their culinary skills By Mohit Rathod
South India Culinary Association (SICA), which led various culinary events at the three-day exhibition, organised a special competition in bakery and patisserie space. SICC Bakery and Pastry Display Challenge served as a stage for chefs to showcase their artistic skills through their innovative preparations. The jury panel for the competition included Chef Jugesh Arora, president, SICA; Chef Seetharam Prasad, corporate executive chef, GRT Hotels & Resorts; Chef Natesan Kannan, co-ordinator, junior forum – South, IFCA; Chef Vikram Udaygiri, director, Excuisine Food and Beverage; and Chef Kasi Vishwanathan, executive chef, The Atria Hotel Bengaluru.
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Unlike many culinary challenges, SICC Bakery and Pastry Display Challenge adopted grading system, wherein each participant won an accolade. The various grades included – gold with distinction, gold, silver and bronze. The participants were categorised into two – apprentice and professional. Both categories had different judging criteria, aimed at fair recognition of talents.
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Chef Arora said, “We are really encouraged with the participation and look forward to have more competitions across all categories next year with FHW. Unless chefs don’t participate in these kind of competitions, we won’t be able to compete internationally. For international competitions, chefs need proper exposure, and we thank FHW for giving us the platform to share our knowledge and experience. We have seen innovative talents at this event.”
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Commenting on the growth in the F&B industry and SICA’s efforts, Chef Vishwanathan stated, “Today there’s no end to the F&B industry; it is doing very well and will always remain in demand. We have seen SICA growing since its inception, we have more than 1,000 memberships. We want the upcoming chefs to become members of this association,” adding that the competition was a platform for developing knowledge, especially for youngsters, to explore their talent. “For instance, we had participants from high-end hotels and smaller places. This is a platform which allows the chef community to explore new ideas and innovations,” he informed.
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SICC Winners’ List
