Report: Lavina D’Sa
Pics: Joachim D’Souza
Muscat, Jan 27: To promote cooking talent in the community, Mangalorean Catholic Center of the Parish (MCCP) organised the ‘Cooking without Fire’ contest on Friday, January 20 at Sts Peter and Paul Church Hall, Ruwi. This was a spectacular event and one of its kind for MCCP.
Like the other Silver Jubilee Year programmes, this programme too saw a large turnout with as many as 49 contestants. The contest was held in two categories, one individual and the other, a team. 15 participants contested in the individual category, and 17 teams were ready for the group category. As the name suggests, the contest spurred contestants to indulge in a challenging task of preparing dishes without the use of fire or a heating mechanism. All the dishes were to be made on the spot. This reflected the excellent cooking skills of various contestants and their performance within the set time-frame of an hour.
The programme was inaugurated in a traditional way with the breaking of the coconut with a 'koithi' (Mangalorean sickle). The president and the executive committee conducted the inaugural ceremony. Dilip Correa, the president of MCCP for the Silver Jubilee year, welcomed the audience, and Ashok Pinto, honorary treasurer, lead the audience into a prayer.
Lavina D’Sa, vice president of Cultural, Spiritual and Community Services introduced the judges to the contestants and Jessie Pereira, vice president of Sports and Finance along with president Correa, welcomed the judges. Jason Cardoza, cultural secretary, read the rules of the competition. All contestants were provided customised aprons by MCCP.
Jacob who has been a chef for over 24 years and has an enormous exposure to international cuisines, worked with the renowned O Sole Mio, Muscat and currently works with Trattoria, Muscat. He was one of the two judges of the event.
Kamal Sarkar, who has worked with various 5-star and 4-star hotels in India and fine-dining restaurants in Oman, and who currently works with Rossini fine dining restaurant at The Cave, Muscat was the other judge of the competition.
Sachin Lobo, secretary of the Community Services, and Lynel Lobo, the Sports secretary, supported the participants, supplying their needs throughout the contest.
The venue looked like a garden full of vegetables and fruits. As the contest began, the contestants very eagerly engaged with the preparation of the dishes. As time progressed, various presentations and culinary skills began to mesmerise the audience.
Young and vibrant Melita Alva, general secretary of MCCP hosted the programme. Lavina D’Sa proposed the vote of thanks. Trecilla Menezes, internal auditor, and Sandra Correa handled all the registration of participants.
President Correa awarded all participants a Certificate of Participation.
Winners
In the 'Individual' Category, John Baptist Pais secured the first place, Thomas D’souza the second, and Reshma D’costa came third.
In the 'Teams' Category, Helen Sequeira and Praveen Monteiro won the first place, Gracy Barboza and Jacintha Periera won the second, and Suman Mathias and Salma Mascarenhas, the third.
The winners will receive their awards at the upcoming sports event in February by MCCP.