Experimenting with food is the ‘in’ thing now in Kerala, where people had largely stuck to their traditional cuisine till about a decade ago. The new generation seems to have taken to cooking with much interest generated by the social media.
This passion for cooking was reflected in the display of a variety of dishes at the second preliminary round of the Premier Cookware and Appliances-The Hindu ‘Our State Our Taste’ cookery contest held on Sunday at Oberon Mall here, with many youngsters competing with experienced hands.
Master Chef title
Thirteen contestants were selected for the finals in Thiruvananthapuram on December 16, where there will be a live demonstration of culinary skills to earn the title of Master Chef of Kerala.
Nishi Mubeer, Anzila Manaf, Sunu Sherry, Sajeena Shameer, Nataraj K., Shahzadi Farah, Misriya Shijar, Sarada P., Bibin and Kalyani T.S. were the first 10 winners while Jayachandran Balakrishna Pillai, Bindu Anand and Thansiya became the wild card entry winners of the contest.
Winning dishes
Afghani kebab pulao, mutton pepper kurma, chicken kizhi, chicken cutlets, kera chicken steak, prawn katori chat, beef kizhi biriyani, cheera konju ada, beef biriyani, kappa soya masala, mushroom theeyal, paneer kofta and kappa pudding were the dishes whipped up by the winners.
Taste takes precedence over any other parameter in a cookery contest, said culinary expert and cookery show host Lekshmi Nair, who was one of the two judges. Presentation was effective, but since the participants were not professionals, taste, process and ingredients that represented Kerala were the parameters for judging, she added.
‘Authenticity a factor’
Authenticity was another aspect that the judges looked for in the dishes, said Jitendra Nakhwa, chief executive chef, Holiday Inn.
All participants were given free petrol cards worth ₹500 from Indian Oil corporation and ₹100 coupon from Daily Fish.
The winners of the contest bagged a gift hamper from Double Horse.
Two more rounds
There were 60 participants from the Kochi region (Kottayam, Alappuzha and Idukki districts included). The next two preliminary rounds will be held in Thrissur and Kozhikode.
Prizes
The Master Chef title winner will also win cash prize of ₹25,000, a petrol card for ₹10,000 and a gift voucher worth ₹2,500 from Daily Fish.
The first runner-up will receive cash prize of ₹15,000 and ₹2,500 gift voucher from Daily Fish while the second runner-up a will get cash prize of ₹10,000 and gift voucher of ₹1,000 from Daily Fish.
The event, an initiative by Theme, is supported by Kerala Tourism. It is powered by Double Horse as partner and Daily Fish as co-partner. Indane from IOC is the energy partner and RKG is the ghee partner.