Despite the rough weather damaging some contestants’ exhibits, the quick-witted organisers have not allowed that to deter fair competition, writes Feizal Samath
Organisers of the Food & Hotel Asia Maldives 2014 – Exhibition & International Culinary Challenge, held across three days in August in the Maldivian capital Male, probably could not be prepared enough for the kind of problems they encountered.
First, a lot of food ingredients, kitchen equipment and other exhibition items had to be transported from Colombo in Sri Lanka, by boat, according to Imran Hassan, energetic Director of CDC Events, the main Sri Lankan co-organiser.
The ship carrying the equipment set off on August 7 from Colombo, but encountered rough weather halfway and had to turn back. A second attempt too, was unsuccessful. The third trip succeeded but upon reaching Male on August 22, the sea was too rough for docking at the port. Special permission had to be obtained from the customs to unload the goods onto a barge mid-sea, then transfer them ashore.
Cake structures were among some of the many delicate items brought by boat. Coming in shaky dhonis (a traditional Maldivian sail boat), some chefs had their cake structures broken, which they had to quickly repair in the morning of the event, a mere few hours before the competition. Pre-made cakes packed inside boxes were also damaged, while pots and pans were jumbled up.
The rough sea also posed the second challenge, according to Imran, of transporting the chefs from outlying resorts, two to three hours away by boat, to Male. Some chefs arrived the night before while others arrived only in the morning of the competition.
For Gerald Mendis, chairman of the Chefs Guild of Sri Lanka which helped to organise the event and put together a team of top international judges, it was one of the most challenging and unusual experiences.
“Judging competitions (in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world) has been relatively easy in terms of logistics, where you move equipment and goods inland. This event in Male was totally different, since the contestants came from other islands,” he recalled.
The organisers felt it necessary to inform the judges about the difficulties encountered by the contestants while they were being transported to Male for the competition.
“We told the judges to be lenient when it came to damaged cake structures. They were flexible and did not deduct marks for any ‘mistake’ or any imperfection due to the unavoidable crisis,” Mendis said.
The event was also subject to the risk of rainy weather, which, if it had happened, would not have allowed half the contestants to make it to Male on rough sea.
“We kept our fingers crossed, and fortunately, it didn’t rain,” Mendis shared.
“Fortunately also, due to the difficulty in transporting the delicate pre-made cakes, there were quite a few Maldivian women from Male who took part in the competition.”
Event
Food and Hotel Asia Maldives 2014
Venue
Dharubaaruge Exhibition Centre
Dates
August 24-26, 2014
No. of Participants
Over 2,000
Objective
To facilitate trade among exhibitors from all over the world offering products and services needed by the Maldives’ resort industry
Challenges
Transporting 325 chefs from outlying resorts as well as kitchen equipment and other items from Sri Lanka by boat to Male, on rough sea
Solution
Requesting the competition’s judges to be lenient with contestants whose exhibits were damaged or affected in the process of being ferried to Male
