India’s culinary profession has garnered recognition the world over and IFCA’s focus is still working to get the community together under one roof here in India and the recent IFCA Chefs’ Forum and the Bengaluru Chapter AGM, hosted by Express Hospitality, at HospitalityWorld Bengaluru was held to propagate this cause further.

During the recently concluded HospitalityWorld 2008, Express Hospitality hosted Indian Federation Culinary Association (IFCA) Chefs’ Forum & Bengaluru Chapter AGM that was on June 20. Executive chef of Le Meridien, V Vijaya Baskaran, played host for the afternoon and introduced members of the IFCA to the audience.

As the first speaker of the forum, Baskaran said, "IFCA is an organisation that is meant for encouraging the chef vocation. For the first time, the chefs' community has come together in the city. This gives hope that the first South Indian Culinary Congress can be held in future under the aegis of IFCA. Taking one step at a time, we could even look forward to a national event and with the support of IFCA, we should also start dreaming of World Congress in the city."

He elaborated on the various aspects that the Chef Forum should discuss about the culinary competition as well as encourage further participation in international competitions where India could be represented. "We now have to leverage the strength of unity," he said.

Website launch

Taking the session forward, Chef Baskaran called upon Sandeep Khosla (VP & head of Business Publications Division, The Express Group), Chef Jugesh Arora (president, South India Culinary Association - SICA), Chef Soundararajan P (corporate executive chef - Mahindra Holidays & Resorts and general secretary for IFCA) and Chef Manjit Singh Gill (corporate chef - ITC Hotels and president for IFCA) on the dais and the IFCA website (www.ifca.info) was formally launched.

Taking the centrestage, Chef Soundararajan spoke about the website and how it would be able to unite the community. "The website symbolises our unity. It would be a great source of information for everyone about the regional associations, programmes, online registration for membership, past and forthcoming events and will also document work of years gone by," he informed.

On this occasion, Khosla said, "We at Express Hospitality have maintained the importance of chefs in the hospitality growth and have organised culinary challenge in various editions of HospitalityWorld. I want to assure IFCA that any initiative taken by them will always get support from us." Talking about the achievement of chefs in the country, Chef Gill said, "Today, it is vital for us to exchange views and knowledge we individually possess. It would be wrong to say that a chef can master every cuisine; at most, he can become a specialist." He also discussed the role of SICA and how it could do better. Further, organising the World Congress for Chefs in India in 2010 was also floated.
At the end of this session, Chef Gill on behalf of IFCA felicitated Sandeep Khosla for giving the chef community an opportunity to come together at HospitalityWorld.

A common platform

The importance of the AGM - Bengaluru Chapter for IFCA was to highlight the chefs and their experience in various events they participated. Chef Mandar of The Park Bangalore presented a paper on IFCA & SICA and how both have given a sense of belonging to the chefs in southern India. He also discussed the culinary scene in Bengaluru. "Business takes a toll on chefs but in order to create new things, chefs are tuning into entrepreneurs to infuse their creative urge,” he added. Chef Mandar also elaborated on the infusion of talent - expatriate chefs - and the scope for development of various cuisines.

Taking the discussion forward, chef Abhijit Saha, director of Avant Garde Hospitality, took the stage and talked through the prospects of culinary field in the Garden City. He said, "Express Hospitality has created a wonderful platform for bringing IFCA here, especially at a time when the association is playing a major role internationally. Now, chefs from the south of the country can also contribute."

Chef Saha talked about the importance of the Chefs Congress that will be organised in the city. "The future is about the goodness of each cuisine we can offer. At the same time, practicing and learning a cuisine are two different things and chefs need to address both aspects," he said. He later talked about scientific innovations like molecular gastronomy and its strong role in cuisine today. "Sharing knowledge among each other will bring the chefs together - for which IFCA stands," Saha summed.

Participation in global events

Taking the concept of sharing ahead, Chef Baskaran shared his experience of participating in World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) Asia Pacific Forum in Gold Coast, Australia and Bangkok. He told the gathering about the events proving to be the learning ground for chefs. He also presented a slide show on the event. "IFCA also won awards for 'HighTaste' at the 'Second International Culinary Showroom Eurasia', a culinary competition held at Sports Palace Uralochka in Yekaterinburg, Russia," he informed. The event was held by the region's Ministry of Trade, Food & Services.

Elango Rajendran, executive chef - Radisson Hotels GRT and general secretary, SICA spoke of Asian Pastry Cup that was held in FHA Singapore this year, where he judged culinary competitions after being nominated by IFCA. On the other hand, Nimish Bhatia, regional executive chef - south, The Grand Ashok talked about how the city is creating new avenues for F&B and culinary professionals. Sharing his 12 years of experience abroad, Rajneesh Gandhi, executive sous chef, The Leela Palace Kempinski put forward a comparative study of the profession in both places. "We need to use the word 'culinary' and not 'production' for the professionals here. Chefs need to be identified as the culinary department and there is a need for increased interaction among professionals and students," he said.

In order to highlight the importance of IFCA and WACS associations, Chef Soundararajan explained the culinary achievements one can achieve through them. He then introduced the Bengaluru Chapter of Executive Committee to the audience and explained the roles of the associations. He talked through the IFCA Junior Forum Steering Committee and announced the event - National Culinary Congress 2009 - that will be held in Hyderabad. "We are lacking in participation. Although IFCA is just four years old we need to work strongly to make it a top association in the culinary world," he remarked. The AGM came to an end with the vote of thanks to those who shared their viewpoints and contributed to the IFCA Chefs’ Forum - Bengaluru Chapter.