The Culinary Club of Trinity College Kandy organized its first ever Inter-House Culinary Competition, intending to make the young Trinitians display and discover the joyful art of cooking. The competition provided all House participants a new avenue to display their skills.
In the afternoon of Friday, the 7th of October, the proceedings commenced with the arrival of the Chief Guest, Mrs Kumuduni Wickremasinghe – Principal of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management Kandy, followed by other guests and invitees.
After a brief introduction to the rules and regulations, competitors rushed immediately to their worktops to start making their dishes followed by the command given by the principal. Each team was tasked with preparing a dish of their choice within 90 minutes using the theme ingredients, Pumpkin, Passion fruit and Jack Fruit Seeds, where quick thinking, creative spark, teamwork, eco-friendliness, sustainability, and cooking prowess were expected to be put to the test.
While the young chefs became busy, the Culinary Quiz with food identification and food-related questions came up next. A duo from each house competed in the quiz and an enthusiastic audience provided answers when the teams failed. The quiz heated the atmosphere and brought in the spirit of competitivity while infusing everyone with great enjoyment.
The rooftop terrace of the Abeyratne-Jeyaraj block displayed festivity with all the exciting activities and the food stalls with various goodies made by members of the culinary club. From mouth-watering brownies, freshly baked cinnamon rolls to crispy cookies, the food stalls dragged everyone from time to time, making it an inexorable venue for everyone.
With the conclusion of the Culinary Quiz, the organizers moved on to the taste test. Each house participant was assigned to name ingredients of a plat du jour that included over 35 ingredients. The competitors dived into this assiduous task enthusiastically, which provoked the audience to have a taste of the mystery dish and challenge their taste buds.
The Culinary competition, which coincided with the College Teachers’ day celebrations, did not forget to include the teachers in the agenda. The teachers’ mocktail competition came up next in the repertoire, where two teachers from each house were tasked to prepare a mocktail within 15 minutes. The mocktails displayed great colour and creativity, which included passion fruit, watermelon, and pea-blue wine. The teachers challenged themselves and took the atmosphere to the next level by exemplifying the young competitors.
With the conclusion of all competitions, the connoisseurs moved on to the much-anticipated tasting of the dishes; where they were presented with the following,
Central Boarding House – Pumpkin Dumplings
Lemuel House – Passion Fruit Mousse
Garret House – Pumpkin Ravioli
Simithraaratchy House – Passion Fruit Cupcakes
Oorloff house – Pumpkin pie
The judging session created a MasterChef vibe as the invited connoisseurs, Mr Rodney Armstrong-General Manager of Mahaweli Reach Hotel, Chef Janaka Perera – Senior Lecture, Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management Kandy, Flt. Lt. Warapitiya, Ms Lalanthi Rajapakse – Promotions Associate at Trinity College Kandy and Flt. Lt. Subodha Anngammana – Specialist in the field of Hospitality were presented with fantastic dishes, beautifully plated, which manifested professionalism. The group leaders presented the course, followed by an explanation of the dish, the ingredients, cooking techniques, and the sustainable methods. The connoisseurs carried out the judgment with scrutiny and full engrossment and shared their remarks with the audience at the end.
While the judges were busy finalizing the results, one of the invited guests, Flt. Lt. Warapitiya from the Hospitality Management School, at the Sri Lanka Air Force Station in Sigiriya delivered a very informative mocktail demonstration, enticing everyone’s eyes and minds; where he generously shared valuable tips that a classy mocktail relies on by preparing passion fruit-lemon and strawberry-melon mocktails.
The day’s events ascended to their ending with the eagerly awaited announcement of the final results.
Pitting against four houses, Garret house won the championship of the Inter House Culinary Competition 2022. Garret House secured first place in the cooking competition and the food quiz, followed by Lemuel House winning the taste test and the teacher’s competition. Simithraaratchy House emerged as 1st runner-up, followed by Central Boarding House, Lemuel House, and Oorloff House occupying the positions that followed, respectively.
Make a Cheese Pumpkin Ravioli with Spicy Pumpkin Soup in your own house!
The meal prepared by the Garret House which won the Inaugural Inter House Culinary Competition of Trinity College, Kandy.
The experience of the Inter House Culinary competition brought out the best in all participants and brought together amateur cooks and professionals, forging a great spirit of togetherness, teamwork, and brotherhood. The young culinarians got the chance to show a professional jury their skills, and getting feedback from industry experts was a great opportunity in terms of personal development. Despite being intimidating at times, the competitions allowed the young chefs to cook against their peers while focusing on personal development, gaining new experiences, and making great memories.
An event that secured a salient position in the Trinity calendar in the coming years, a finale with much more than getting rewarded accolades and prestige. The Inter-House Culinary Competition 2022 proved to be an event of diverse moments full of colour, which created a platform for young culinarians to hone their craft by putting their skills and cognizance to the test in a competitive format. It was apparent that it has undoubtedly inspired the lives of many young Trinitians to pursue the fantastic art of culinary as excellent service to humanity.
Review by Samiru Herath (Writer, Web Content Team)
Event Photographed by the Trinity College Media Unit. (Photographers: Nethmika Athukorala)
