With the Inter-IIT Cultural Meet being just a few days away, all cult sections are busy practising away. Watch Out dropped by each section of the Cultsoc to get a sneak peek into their practise regime and to find out their expectations from the meet.

Tell us about the events under your section in Inter IIT.

We have two events. The first is the Tag Team Challenge. Each team will comprise of two members. During the hour-long cooking challenge, the team members will have to switch in every 15 mins. The second event is making a complete 3-course meal (starters, main course and dessert) within a time limit of 2 hrs. The list of ingredients will be same for both the events. The teams are allowed to bring their own equipments if they require but the list of ingredients is fixed.

This is Culinary Club’s debut in the Inter-IIT Cultural Meet. How has the response been so far?

None of the other IITs has a culinary club. So it was a challenge to encourage them to participate since they lack proper teams and resources. But now many teams are up for it and they are excited to try this for the first time.

What was your motive behind introducing cooking to Inter-IIT platform?

We want every IIT to have its own Culinary Club. Food is an integral part of any culture. So a Cultural Meet without the element of food is sketchy. The inter-IIT platform is likely compel other IITs to kickstart their own culinary clubs. This will flourish the culture of food and it will be taken more seriously.

How are you sourcing the ingredients and other essential equipments for your events?

Everything is being arranged by the Inter-IIT core team. We have sent them the list of all the ingredients, pots and pans, knives, spoons and chopping boards that we’ll be needing. The vegetables and fruits will probably come from the campus messes.

Give us an insight into your practice sessions.

We recently got the canteen space in the new SAC building to practice and set up our instruments and ingredients. We practise for 4-5 hours daily. It involves a lot of discussion as to what should be cooked, which flavours to work on, what should be the sequence of our dishes etc. We have selected dishes that are less risky since there are high chances of screwing up under the pressure during competitions.

Who will be judging these events?

Jayanandan Bhaskar, MasterChef Season-1 runner-up is one of the judges. He came to judge in Thomso as well.

What were the challenges you faced during Thomso?

It was a test run to see what problems can arise while organising a cooking competition. There was some miscommunication with caterers so at the last hour we had to arrange everything from the induction cooktops to the venue at LHC (about which the professor wasn’t too happy. )

Cooking competitions involve many contingencies, say the dish gets burnt. What are your emergency plans for dealing with it?

We have selected dishes with minimum risk, less cooking time and can be prepared in bulk. So, we’ll be making, say 3 batches in one go and then serve the best one. Also, we have the arrangements of basic first aid for burns, cuts etc.

How has been the support of SAC, the Inter-IIT core team and the administration?

Ours is an equipment-intensive group. Financially, the administration hasn’t been very helpful. SAC has been more supportive. We got initial funding of 50,000 for our café and all our things have been purchased from it. The funds are sufficient for our event.The contractors will be providing the stoves for the flame-based cooking and we have 7-8 induction-cooktops as a backup.

Your club is still in its nascent stage. How an event like Inter-IIT helpful for the growth of your group?

Many students on the campus are still unaware of the existence of our group.Through, Inter-IIT they’ll get to know more the section.Cooking is an essential part of our life. At some point in life, you have to cook and it’s good that students learn it during their college years.

Tell us about your plans for the student-run café.

It will open every Saturday and Sunday and students will cook a single dish on a particular day. Cleanliness will be our topmost priority. We want to be responsible about what we serve. Also, at least once a month, we’ll cook especially for the Africans. Africans in our campus struggle a lot with the food. The species, the kind of rice, the vegetables etc doesn’t suit them. We’ll try to cook Tapioca and plantains which can be procured from Delhi.

What are your expectations for the inter-IIT events?

The participating teams are all charged up. Every other day, we receive their messages asking doubts which shows they are prepping well. I feel elated about putting in the efforts. It will be fun!

Any message to your competitors?

It’s a Food War. Let’s gear up and give our best!