‘Cooking up’ a challenge for women chefs

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* This dish came to India from Indonesia, according to famous food historian KT Achaya. Cooks employed by Indonesian Hindu kings are believed to have made it between the 9th and 12th centuries. Name the dish.

* Designed by chemist Fred Baur using advanced computing to solve issues with broken and greasy-bagged snacks, this product’s signature saddle-like shape is a mathematically optimised hyperbolic paraboloid. It comes packed in canisters to withstand transport pressure. Which engineered snack brand is this?

These two are among the questions that were posted to participants at QuizDiva, a culinary competition for women chefs, culinary professionals, and hospitality students from South India, held at Institute of Hotel Management in Taramani recently.

Over 70 participants found their knowledge and culinary skills tested through different rounds. There were three top prizes worth ₹ 1 lakh, ₹75,000 and ₹ 50,000 to be taken away.

Designed to celebrate talent, creativity, and professional excellence, the event organised by X Quiz IT with South India Chefs Association (SICA) as collaborators tested the participants on practical culinary challenges, knowledge of food and kitchen skills.

The quiz segments were conducted by X Quiz IT’s founder and creative head Arvind Rajeev, while the overall event was handled by Arun Jayakaran Ventures (AJV).

“We have done quiz competitions for chefs in the past but this is the first time we were doing something exclusively for lady chefs who were in the fray to showcase their expertise in theory and practicals. We wanted them to look beyond the books,” says quizzer Arvind Rajeev.

With women in the hospitality industry playing an important role, QuizDiva served as a platform for recognising and encouraging them.

Niranjana Murugesan Durai, a resident of Chennai, won the first prize. After a stint in the hotel industry, she is currently running her own home-based cloud kitchen and plans to use the cash prize in her business.

Rubah Fathima and Nandhita Sriram were declared second and third prize winners respectively. A new experience for these chefs, the winners pointed out that having a quiz format in the challenge made them take “strategic guesses” and also admire the many female chefs in the industry.

Actor Thalaivasal Vijay was the special guest and he gave away the prizes.

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