“One Bite at a Time”
Incessant rain, which had already forced to postpone the event from 16th November 2018, could no longer dampen the spirits of Food Lovers in Kuwait from organizing a the much awaited 5th Ethnic Food Festival hosted by Maurya Kala Parisar, Kuwait on Friday, the 23rd November 2018 at Indian Community School, Junior Branch in Salmiya. Despite the fear of the weather the enthusiasm of the Participants, Organizers and Organizers were at its peak to make the event a success. Nearly 100 home-made dishes in different categories like Veg, Non-Veg, Street Food, Desserts and the very delicious and nostalgic flavors of Jharkhand & Bihar in the Ethnic Category, prepared by around 63 participants which included Ladies, Men and Children were displayed in artistic delight to the eyes.
While Food Competition was the highlight of the event, there were variety of offerings of authentic and Ethnic foods as well as fusion from across the global cuisines for the audience to feast at the stalls. There were on display and sale exclusive Clothing, Jewelries, Gift items, Decorative items and many more. Ladies and Kids indulged in Hand/Face Painting & Mehendi. There were huge crowd of kids witnessed at the Games Stall which also sold Home Made Cookie Choco Balls. While the evaluation of the Dishes in the Food Competitions was carried out by 15 Food Expert, Audience and participants were entertained with games prizes. Mr. Devesh & Ms. Sonali entertained the visitors and kept the mood festive though games and on the spot quizzes and giving away lots of prizes and gifts.
Evaluation of the dishes in competition were carried out by experts like Professional Chefs, Winners of Culinary Competitions, Writers and Knowledgeable Food Enthusiasts. The panel of the judges included Asharupa Berman, Ashsish Barot, Baby Shajila Gulam, Chhaya Thakkar, Chef Dipon, Chef Sunil, Chef Sheikh Ahmed, Jesny Shameer , Maimoona, Mitali Goswami, Misriya, Ruby, Sana Hamid, Sheeba, Varun Sinha,
While the Category “Ethnic from Jharkhand & Bihar” had many traditional dishes of the region there were also on display many traditional dishes ranging from Assam, Bengal, Orissa, UP, Punjab, Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. along with some which were a variation or mix of traditional dishes as a platter.
The following were declared winners in the respective catergories:
Ethnic from Jharkhand & Bihar
Winner : Shruti Katiyar [Dal Puri with Kheer]
1st Runners-up: Shweta Kumari [Ghoogni]
2nd Runners-up: Ujjwal Ritwik [Dal Pitha}
Vegetarian (Main Course Dish)
Winner : Priti Bharti [Mutter Ki Kachori]
1st Runners-up: Saleha Tanveer [Tiranga]
2nd Runners-up: Rani Ejaz [ Chhole
Non-Vegetarian (Main Course Dish)
Winner: Sauravi [Lamb Handi]
1st Runners-up: Neelika Raza Khan [Mughlai Mutton Masala]
2nd Runners-up: Bilquis [Khausa Chowmein]
Street Food
Winner: Shamya Mohd. Ashraf [Cornetto Chaat]
1st Runners-up: Geeta Vinod [ Dahi Bhalle with Papdi]
2nd Runners-up: Deepali Basak [Egg Chicken Roll]
Desserts
Winner : Priti Bharti [Parval Ki Mithai]
1st Runners-up: Nisha [Chocolate Mousse]
2nd Runners-up: Lalitha Sundar
The winners and runners-up were presented with Certificate of Appreciation and Gifts during the concluding ceremony. The prizes were given away among loud applause by the audience and participants. Consolation Prizes and Gifts were given to all participants.
The other participants who had presented mouth watering cuisines beautifully and artificially displayed needs mention which included AS Geetha, Asma Mirza, Bushra Sabir, Deepali, Devesh(male), Divya Ritwik, Fayza, Frayal, Heena, Imroz(male), Indrani, Kajal, Kritika, Malika, Naaz, Nazia, Nitu, Nivedita, Noora, Pallabhi, Radhika Mishra, Rahila Ansari, Rahila Anwar, Rainal, Ramarabha, Renuka, Rizwana, Rohina, Ruhina, Sabiha, Sahil Kardamay, Saima, Sejal, Shahzaib(Child), Shaista, Sharmila, Shobha, Shubhangi (child), Shweta, Suchitra, Sugandha, Sunita, Supriya Singh, Supriya Sinha
The event also had enough for kids wherein Drawing & Painting Competition was held under three age group categories. The Theme of the Drawing & Painting Competition was Food. Photography contest was also held were Participants were asked to the send the Photographs clicked during the event to an Whatsapp number. The Photographs were further evaluated by a panel of Judges and the Best 3 photographs were declared Winners. The panel of judges who evaluated the Drawing & Painting by the kids included subject matter experts like Muhammad Adil Ahmad, Monika Gupta, Shilpa Sharma Tyagi and Tanushree Sinha.
Winners of the Drawing & Competitions were:
Above 10 years
Winner: Atiyah
1st Runners-up: Sahil
2nd Runners-up: Aiman
Upto 10 Years
Winner : Umang
1st Runners-up: Safa
2nd Runners-up: Sudipa Basak
The entries in the Photography contest included creative and artistic capturing of the moments of the event. The following were judged as the winners of the Photography contest by the panel of judges that included Sabir Hussain Ansari, Ujjawal Ritwik and Varun Sinha :
Winner: Ruhina
1st Runners-up: Nisha
2nd Runners-up: Ashraf Jahangir
In its fifth edition, the event has been a runaway success and participants and visitors has started enquiring about the probable schedule for the next edition of the Food Festival.
Executive Committee and Organizing Team for the event had put in lots of efforts to make the event successful. The team included Nivedita, Uday, Ramesh, Tanushree, Syed Shabih, Nitin, Hamid Nakhwa, Nehal, Mahtabuzzaman, Rahim, Zahir, Manikant, Devesh, Ujjwal Ritwik, Divya Ritwik, Sanjeev, Shailesh Mishra, Bushra Afroz, Sana Hamid, Sumit Tekriwal, Mahfuz, Avinash and many more who contributed in one way or the other. General Secretary, Manoj Mishra and President of the Association Sabir Hussain Ansari appreciated all the participants of Food Competition, Painting Competition and Photography Contest, Judges, Volunteers, Guests and Visitors and Media for making the event a success.