The art of cooking needs effort. Making the concept of food art available to food enthusiasts, Culinary Art India 2012, an ongoing food art festival at Pragati Maidan once again brought together culinary enthusiasts and art aficionados to share a passion for food, art and entertainment. From butter or margarine sculpture to three tier wedding cake and live cake dressings, here’s one fest where new and exciting ideas are taking shape. With seasoned chefs competing with each other, the idea of behind the festival, organised by Indian Culinary Forum in association with ITPO and Hospitality & food service, is to open foodies to new ideas from the experts’ kitchen.
“Apart from creating awareness about the profession of chefs and felicitate the achievers in this profession, this professional culinary challenge is a chance for food lovers to come and learn about new innovations in the world of cooking,” says chef Davinder Kumar, president, ICF.
A key feature of the event are the live and display based culinary competitions by individuals and teams from the leading hotels and restaurants of the country. The competitions are to test the differing skills of entrants.
Chef Dalvir Singh, winner of the Plated Appetizer tells us, “I decided to use innovative methods of cooking in all my dishes. In the first dish I created salmon and candied apple with asparagus using curing method of cooking. In the second dish, I steamed prawns on risotto timbale with saffron broth along with this I gave ristto and soup. So while you had prawns to eat, there was risotto as a starch and the soup as a drink. In my third dish, I stuffed chicken wings with grilled mango and noodle salad using the braising technique of cooking.”
The five-day feast includes interesting concepts like live cooking, display of food, carvings and food theatre.
Among them all, food theatre has gripped many visitors as chefs present live demonstrations in a studio kitchen.
“Here the chefs cook live and it’s showcased on a big screen. So it’s like a theatre where guests get to learn how to cook different dishes as chefs prepare them,” says Singh.
He further adds that this year, the fest aims to introduce guests and also participating chefs to newer methods of learning and also a host of new ingredients which can add a twist to the regular recipes. “India has grown over the years in terms of culinary options in every cuisine. For instance, we have artistic pastries at the event where you’ll see raw materials and ways of dressing you’ve not seen before,” says Singh.