Kerala Tourism’s culinary contest winners get a taste of Onam

Ten winners of Kerala Tourism’s culinary contest 2020-21 are currently on a week’s family trip across the State’s northern and central regions, enjoying the scenic beauty and local legends besides relishing a lavish feast on Thursday as part of Onam celebrations.

The visitors, five of them from abroad, enjoyed the taste of varied local dishes served as ‘sadya’ on plantain leaf. The grand assortment of rice, curries, fried chips, pickles and a line-up of delicious payasam puddings impressed the guests, a press release said here on Thursday.

The 10-member team and their families had their special lunch served at The Raviz Calicut, where the guests had a leisurely stopover. Having arrived by noon at the venue from Pazhassiraja Archaeological Museum in the city, the guests also laid a colourful flower carpet (pookalam) typical of Onam celebrations, before leaving for Kochi, 180 km southward.

“Such a wonderful experience,” exclaimed Svetashova Natalia, a prize winner from Tomsk in Russia. Added West Bengal’s Vidhi Chugh: “The dishes here have a unique taste!”

The other winners are Adina Ioana Panta (Manchester, UK), Morozov Nikita (Kemerovo, Russia), Roxana Dana Saila (Bucharest, Romania) and Yuki Shimizu (Tokyo, Japan) besides Remalakshmi Sundararajan (Telangana), Jaya Narayan (Maharashtra), Himanandhini Prabakaran (Karnataka) and Vinny Sukanth (Andhra Pradesh).

Minister for Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas said the government’s focus on tourism in the northern districts led the authorities to chart the prize-winners’ itinerary along the Malabar region primarily. That was why the guests were taken to places in Kannur, Wayanad and Kozhikode districts, he noted, referring to their eight-day trip that began on August 27.

K.S. Srinivas, Principal Secretary, Tourism, pointed out that the culinary contest enlivened the department’s website, as the footfall to the State is steadily increasing, overcoming a lull caused by prolonged spells of COVID-19. “Even during the pandemic period, the portal registered over one crore hits, just because we revved up our online activities,” he said.

Kerala Tourism Director P.B. Nooh said the guests got an opportunity to get a feel of Onam as a season.

The Kerala Cuisine Contest 2020-21 was open to non-Keralites. Overall, there were 11,605 participants, of whom 8,600 were from within India and 3,005 from abroad. The authorities got 2,629 video entries, which were then uploaded on the website of Kerala Tourism for public voting. An initial screening followed, after which 359 videos (319 within India and 40 abroad) were shortlisted and uploaded on the portal.