Celebrity Master Chef – Dr. Kaviraj Khialani conducted a 3-day Global Gastronomy Workshop – Food from around the world with a twist of taste at GNA University, Phagwara- Punjab.

Keeping in mind the current culinary trends and latest twists and turns to have the interest levels pepped up for young budding culinarians, celebrity master Chef Kaviraj Khialani presented a global twist with fusion cooking in an attempt to have the desi flavours revamping themselves with an international look and vice versa. The intent of this 3-day workshop from 23rd to 25th May 2022, pre-dominantly was to share ideas, knowledge and information about global cuisines with the young wanting to be chefs at the esteemed GNA University at Phagwara, Punjab.

The workshop started off with a seminar room presentation in which the importance of knowing basic’s in culinary was discussed, a formal presentation on the art of fusion cooking was presented starting from its origin to the modern outlook. Chef Kaviraj made this session a very interactive one and the students too participated whole-heartedly and shared their experiences with cooking, baking and innovating with foods.

The session also laid importance on understanding various cooking methods, how to mix- n- match regional foods with fusion, the know-how aspects of how to blend spices, masalas, sauces, condiments etc to create new combinations and concoctions to impress a foodie in a number of ways possible. Chef also discussed various examples from our day to day cooking from a dal fry to jeera aloo, to our favourite pao bhaji, sooji ka sheera, aloo paratha and many more sharing ideas on how we can create new recipes using our foundation recipes. 

The seminar session also presented 100 ways with fusion recipes which were shared with all the participants in the form of handouts especially designed for the workshop which were a great take away from the session in terms of how and where we can innovate and create fusion in our daily cooking. the students found this part very informative and interesting since the names given to the fusion dishes too were different, unusual and with a punch of humour. Besides this Chef Kaviraj also handed out 100 most popularly asked questions for culinary interviews and vivas from indian cuisine to international as well with hints and tips on how to answer them aptly and to the point, this was appreciated by the participants as it would be helpful for them in the coming semesters at college.

The 2nd and 3rd day of the workshop were totally practical and hands on in the training kitchen and labs, the students were asked to divide themselves into 3 teams and groups of 10-12 each per team by which it would be easy to divide the work and the mis-en-place for the menus to be done on the said days. There were totally 3 teams and each team did 1 menu of around 5-6 dishes per day and 2 menus totally in 2 days were completed by each team. The emphasis here was on pre-planning, organising, and dividing the tasks equally among team members who also had to carry out tasks related to bakery as well. the student’s enthusiasm was worth watching and the excitement to work on day 2 and day 3 was the best part to observe at the end of day 1 of the seminar.

The management team of the university also visited the presentation room to check out the presentations of the students in teams and their menus which they found pretty impressive and in good spirit it was a break from routine sessions and practicals as well from the faculties point of view. The students were asked to present their respective concepts of the global fusion menus and to get confident on how to speak effectively with a sense of pride about what is appearing on the plates!

The students were very tempted to try out their dishes and menus by the end of the presentations on both the days and they loved sharing their dishes with the other teams as well in order to have an open learning session and that is what really works when it comes to cooking and food. The reactions and expressions of some of the students were worth watching when they tasted some really new and unimaginable recipes during these sessions and the wow factor just took over everyone!  Some of the most liked dishes from the fusion desk included international chinese Manchurian chaat platter, palak paneer tadke wala lasagne baked to perfection, chicken mehlokhiya with Mashkool rice, layered phirni and flaky pastry dessert enlaced with blueberries and nuts to name a few. Indian, Chinese, Thai, Arabic, Mexican, Malaysian, Filipino, Sri-Lankan, French, Italian were few of the cuisines picked for this workshop. The top 5 students among both the teams after a thorough observation on all days were also offered a token of appreciation by chef kaviraj for their exemplary performance!

“my experience at GNA University has been amazing! The students taking up culinary arts are so focussed, they love to be in the kitchen, want to get into doing things practically, they are not only open to discussions and food talk sessions but also want to get their hands on trying new ways out with the regulars. The students have been very cooperative and have exhibited an awesome interest and impeccable presentation styles as well during the 3-day global gastronomy workshop”. 

Mr. Gurdeep Singh- President of GNA University also offered a token of gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Kaviraj Khialani for having conducted this global gastronomy workshop for the students and along with him the vice-chancellor, dean- academics and head of department too extended their best wishes to Chef Kaviraj for this great task well executed.

On day 3 we also had a certificate of appreciation which was signed by Chef Kaviraj and handed over personally to each participant with a photo session as well to leave back memories ever after.

These kind of sessions are very helpful for the students and they develop a sense of confidence and motivation for them to work on their area of interest and stay committed towards making a bright career in the near future too. It would be nice if more colleges and universities across India start accepting this idea and fact of knowledge sharing by we experts with the students and also a platform where they can ask questions, clarify doubts and even showcase their own talents as well summarised chef Kaviraj Khialani as he concluded the workshop with a note of thanks and best wishes for all.

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