Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology inaugurated “The 21st Chandiwala Hospitality Ensemble” on 19th October 2022. The event was witnessed by a record crowd of Hospitality Students, Industry Experts, Trade Media and Faculty Members. Such events steer students towards teamwork, leadership, and planning with overall management skills as well as showcasing artistic ability in cultural extravaganzas, for holistic personality development through extracurricular activities. The event began with an inauguration ceremony with eminent Chief Guest Chef Rakesh Sethi, Radisson Hotel Group, Guest of Honour Dr Ganesh Bagler, Associate Professor, Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Department of Computational Biology, IITD.
Chief guest Chef Rakesh Sethi, Radisson Hotel Group, Guest of Honour Dr Ganesh Bagler, Associate Professor, Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Department of Computational Biology, IITD, Mr. R.K. Bhandari, Principal BCIHMCT, and Chef Prem Ram, CHE Event Coordinator and Joint Secretary Indian Culinary Forum, declared the event open with Lamp Lighting Ceremony followed by Ganesh Vandana.
Mr. R.K. Bhandari, Principal BCIHMCT, welcomed the Chief Guest for the opening ceremony - Chef Rakesh Sethi, Guest of Honour Dr Ganesh Bagler and other esteemed guests, sponsors, media partners, faculty members and participants,
He emphasized that BCIHMCT is an institution which stages the spirits of the budding hotelier. He said "While giving pure academics the due importance it deserves, BCIHMCT has always provided the students from Hospitality fraternity to showcase their talents and spirit of hospitality by organizing such events."
Chef Rakesh Sethi, in his opening remarks stated that events like these ensure students are ready to face the Industry and the life ahead. Calling the budding hospitality professionals the assets of the hotel industry, he encouraged the participating teams to put in their best efforts during the three day mega event.
Dr. Ganesh Bagler spoke about his research in computational gastronomy which is an emerging data science of food, flavors and health. By blending food with data and computation he has helped establish the foundations of this niche area. Starting with the investigation of food pairing in Indian cuisine, his lab has contributed to computational gastronomy with studies on culinary fingerprints of world cuisines, culinary evolution, benevolent health impacts of spices, and taste prediction algorithms.
Dr. Chef Prem Ram, congratulated the institution for organising the Ensemble and also thanked Shri Banarsidas Chandiwala Sewa Smarak Trust Society, along with sponsors, media partners & participating institutes for their contribution towards the Hospitality Ensemble.
He spoke about the sustainability of food and its long term impact on the health of Indian consumers. Incidentally, we have kept the theme of "Shashwat Bhoj" which truly encapsulates the theme of sustainability. "Shaswat Bhoj" is a feast to remember our past, to sustain for our future and to explore our discovered present. After all, the habit of local consumption is a principle encouraged by ancient medicinal systems as it helps decrease the ecological footprint by reducing energy requirements involved in processing, packaging, storage, and transportation.
The Chefs and Managers representing different departments of Hotels in Delhi-NCR will be judging the various competitions such as Bar-wizard Bar Challenge (a cocktail mix-&-straight competition), R Pure Traditional Vedic Cuisine Challenge, Nestle Culinary Challenge, USAPEEC INDIA, Biryani Competition, Oxford Hospitality Brain Twister (quiz competition related to hospitality services & tourism), Korean Culinary Challenge, Floral Decoration Competition, Tramontina Fruit & Vegetable Carving and Dress the Cake Competition. Through Regional Indian Culinary Contest the ensemble encourages the youth to learn more about their roots and revival of the traditional Indian recipes.