Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
The Western India Culinary Association (WICA) recently hosted its third culinary conference ‘Chef’s Connect 2015’ on December 9, 2015 at Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport. The special guest for the event was Chef Manjit S Gill, corporate chef, ITC – Hotels Division. This year, Chef’s Connect was held on the theme – ‘Bend the Rules’ – to encourage culinary creativity among chefs in India. The event opened with the inauguration, followed by a speech by Chef Gill and a series of presentations on the latest trends in the global F&B space which are redefining the dining experience and can be adopted in the India market. For instance, a presentation highlighted how techno emotional cuisine (a term preferred by El Bulli’s research and development Chef Ferran Adrià) and neurogastronomy (the way chefs/ restauranteurs are manipulating the environment to influence the response to food) are gaining ground in the international F&B space and are revolutionising the dining experience.
Another presentation titled, ‘World Trends in Bakeries and Cafes’, highlighted several trends presently driving this particular segment. Elaborating on this, Pankaj Jain, general manager – sales and culinary, Rich’s said, “Firstly, the beverage segment is gaining momentum and is enhancing the profitability of an organisation. Secondly, chefs need to increasingly focus on making the food visually appealing. Thirdly, chefs need to create food to celebrate different occasions. Fourthly, Matcha (green tea) is the new thing. Lastly, consumers today want to experience unique textures and are demanding food that is both healthy and tasty. A lot of Indians are now moving into organic food.”
An interesting addition to this year’s event was a presentation by Ankit Kawatra of Feeding India, a social enterprise that helps the underprivileged get access to excess cooked food from restaurants and caterers. Speaking on this, Kawatra opined, “We started Feeding India last year and presently we have 1000 volunteers comprising college students and professionals, and have our network across 20 cities in India.” He ended the presentation by urging chefs to put excess food into rightful use.
The event went onto highlight how food halls are slowly replacing food courts, how technology is coming into the forefront and how the speed in which food is being delivered will gain further significance in 2016.
Apart from these presentations, Chef’s Connect 2015 included knowledge sessions, product demonstrations, panel discussions and the WICA Annual Awards wherein leading industry experts shared their knowledge, experience, and spoke about the latest industry trends and developments.