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Administrators from the government, and event organisers seen here with competitors and judges of the Naga Chef, a cooking competition.[/caption]
Dimapur, Nov. 24 (EMN): With three top cooks remaining in the seventh edition of the cooking competition Naga Chef, the sixth day of the event saw contestants display their culinary skills and knowledge of Naga indigenous cuisines.
On November 23 at Mhachaki in Kohima, three finalists namely Hechuba Chang, Peteneilhu Kulimbe, and Chungmei Phom prepared an array of scrumptious local delicacies to celebrate the rich diversity of ethnic cuisines from different Naga tribes, updates stated.
The Naga Chef management issued a press release to the media on November 24 giving the updates.
Chief Secretary Temjen Toy, among a host of special guests, attended the dinner too, the press release stated.
“Toy congratulated the finalists and mentioned that food is the indicator of our civilization and we need to evolve in our cooking techniques to promote our Naga cuisine,” the press release quoted the bureaucrat as having said at the event.
The government servant lauded Synergy Group Enterprise for taking the initiative to promote food of the region thereby adding value to even simple Naga cuisines. He mentioned that over the years, the quality of food that the Naga Chef contestants cooked has been ‘improving.’ He hoped that the participants will take the experience and turn it into an enterprise, the updates stated.
One of the competition’s judges, Rovi Chasie said that people in general tend to take cooking for granted.
‘Many times they do not appreciate and accept it as an art. The title “culinary art” in its definition should be more than enough to convince even most sceptical persons that cooking is an art. Cooking, in fact, is a very versatile art form unlike other art mediums. It has the capacity to engage all senses. Any chef knows that presentation is as important as taste, aroma and texture of what is served,’ the organisers explained.
‘Culinary art has the physical quality of music and dance—something is being made or performed to be consumed later. In fact, some say that cooking is the original art form coming even before music and visual art,’ the press release asserted.
The Naga Chef competition is organised by Synergy Group Enterprise and supported by the Nagaland Tourism department. The event is an important platform in promoting and conserving Naga cuisine in particular and Naga culture in general, the organisers stated.