Not quite a cake walk

Cooking under pressure, exotic desserts and cool bartending tricks — food took centre stage at this college hospitality meet.

It was a college festival with a tasty twist. The 10th edition of the three-day hospitality ensemble hosted by the Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, kicked off in Delhi last week. A grand culinary affair, it saw students cook up a storm!

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“The event saw amazing participation from all over India and we had two teams who came in from Nepal,” says Vaibhav Verma, one of the organisers of the event.

One of the first competitions of the event, was almost reminiscent of the TV show Masterchef, as students raced against time to create mouth watering dessert. One of the participants, Shweta Magare, from an institute in Nasik, brought the flavour of home to the table. "I wanted Delhi to taste Maharashtra with an exotic international tinch of flavour and garnished with chocolate, so I made Condied Prunes Karanji, a Maharashtrian dessert with a twist," she said.

The sweet affair was followed by a slightly tipsy one — as 19 students took part in the Bar Wizard — a competition in which students were judged on the basis of their bartending technique, aroma, taste and the appearance of the drink.

For the final act, students had to concoct a three-course menu, with mocktails, starters, main course and dessert, using only the products given to them. “It was exhilarating, one never imagined that there can be such tense moments in competitive cooking,” said a student.