SICA Olympics 2002

The best way to a man’s heart is through the stomach, they say. But it may not be the only way, even in the culinary context. The displays at the Nestle SICA Culinary Olympics 2002, which was held recently at GRT Grand Days, Chennai, touched many a hearts in its own way - by having presentations reflecting relevant social and environmental themes.

‘Victory’, depicting two Indian jawans fighting enemies on Tiger Hills, ‘Muthalvan’, a sculpture of God Vinayaga, ‘Eco-Friendly World’, a garden of vegetables, and ‘Heal the World’, depicting two malnourished African souls are some of the themes of the 100-odd presentations of ice carvings, butter sculptures, fruit and vegetable carvings, cold cuts, bread/salt doughs, plated desserts, cake decorations and petit fours.

SICA Olympics also had a live cooking contest for Nestle Young Star Chef of the Year 2002, which was organised at Vels Institute of Hotel Management, a Chennai-based institute. Thirty teams from various hotels and catering colleges were said to have participated in the ethnic cuisine for professionals and western cuisine for students.

“SICA has been organising this annual Olympics since 2000. The objectives of the contests are to increase interaction between the chefs, showcasing their culinary talent and enhancing public awareness about this trade,” said the president of SICA, N Kannan, who is the executive chef at Taj Air Caterers. He added that the contests were a resounding success with enthusiastic participation by chefs by leading hotels and students from various catering colleges. “For the first time, we have conducted the contests, part of Olympics 2002, with rules in accordance with a set of international standards,” Kannan said and added that “as compared to the last competition where we received 75 participants, this year there were 120 entries.”

“Contests like these serve to germinate and disseminate information related to the food technologies. Here, we provide an opportunity for the public and food enthusiasts to view the culinary presentations,” said P Soundararajan, who is the corporate executive chef, Mahindra Holiday Resorts. He said that the Olympics with its emphasis not only on taste but also ambience and presentation, is a trend setting initiative that has been receiving wide appreciation and attention even from the north.

Speaking on the award distribution function, M O Koshy, vice president, GRT Grand Days, emphasised the presentation and ambience focus of the contests. He said, “Guests first taste the food with their eyes and noses. Therefore the quality and attraction of the presentation and ambience make the industry to achieve better value.” He also pointed out the recent developments in the industry such as opening up of the railway catering, and mushrooming of restaurants that offer opportunities for culinary professionals.

G Rajendran, chairman, GRThanga Maligai (P) Limited, P N Somaiya, branch manager (Chennai), Nestle India Limited and Dr Ishari K Ganesh, chairman, Vel’s Group of Colleges also spoke in the award distribution function. According to SICA, Shaju Zacharia, corporate executive chef, DLF Golf Resorts and an executive member of Indian Culinary Forum (ICF), Vernon Coelho, senior instructor-food production, Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Mumbai, and an executive member of WICA constituted the panel of judges. The gold medal winners of the category I (professionals) were A R Vikram and Mohan Kumar of ITC Park Sheraton; silver medal winners were Dhanalakshmi and Anand Joseph of Taj Coromandel, Gunasekaran and Saravanan of Le Royal Meridien, Trilok Kumar and Sonali of Chola Sheraton, and A Ramamurthy of GRT Grand Days.