The sixth gourmet special week, which kicked off last week in Delhi, was a

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treat for foodies, as it included culinary demonstrations by executive chefs from leading hotels of the capital, such as ITC Welcomgroup, Maurya Sheraton, Le Meridien, Taj Palace, Inter Continental, Mariott, Vasant Continental and so on.

For Delhiites, this was not only a good learning, but a tasty experience, too. As for the chefs, they had a good time interacting and picking up tips from each other. Says chef Vivek Sagar from Food Art, the gourmet week was a great platform for chefs to interact with people in general.

Though these days people can pick up recipes from the internet and books, live demonstration by top chefs was a different experience altogether. “Books and internet can give you a general idea about cooking, but some times there is lack of clear information, say, regarding use of the right ingredients and putting them in the right quantity. A demonstration gives people practical knowledge on cooking” says Italian chef Suman Sharma of Tonino Restaurant.

Green Food was a special attraction of the event. Chef Sharma prepared an exotic Rocketleave salad with oranges and avacado pine­nuts. While chef Chugh prepared delicious Abuziene desert stuffed with rose petals and a starter Zuccine stuffed with cheese and dates. Chef Sagar, who cooked Dum Pukht and Nawabi Tarkari Biryani for the event, says “Organic, trendy and healthy cuisine was a special attraction, as it is in vogue. The demonstration was given from the housewives’ point of view. The whole idea was to make people aware and educate them on how to prepare exotic cuisine using ingredients available in homes,” he adds.

This time the chefs were also happy about the venue for the gourmet week – Dilli Haat. “Earlier, the event was organised in hotels and many people were not even aware of it. Organising it in Dilli Haat made it easy for the people to attend with the entry fee at just Rs 120,” says chef Sharma. “The session was quite interactive and open to all strata of society”.

Chef Ashu Chugh of Saffron Hospitality say, “Foodies could learn to cook a variety of palatable cuisine without the help of books.”

The gourmet week, which wrapped up on Monday, will be followed by a chef award ceremony on October 30, to recognise culinary excellence of these gourmet professionals There will be 14 different categories, including Golden Hat Chef award, Silver Hat Chef Award, Master Chef for different cuisines, Kitchen Artist award, Food Critic award and Lady Chef of the Year award.

According to the organisers, PHD Chamber of Commerce and the Indian Culinary Forum along with Indian Federation of Culinary Associations, there will be two more award categories this year – Student Chef of the Year and Instructor of the Year. The awards will be presented by Kumari Selja, Union minister for tourism, housing and urban poverty alleviation.