Around the world the spicy way

By Salma Yusuf

It has been the secret of great cooking. At times, it has been the root cause of wars and feuds. We are talking Spices. This time around, it has been the inspiration for an International Festival.

The variety of food will not only be the spice of the festival, but spices will also be in variety, as the much talked about World Spice Festival hots up in Colombo.

All participating hotels have opened their doors to people from across the country to savour culinary masterpieces from renowned international chefs who are in Colombo from September 14 -21 to showcase delights from their part of the globe.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Director, Corporate Services, Sri Lanka Tourist Board, Upali de Silva explained that the objective was to create an annual event that will eventually lead to international tourists making Sri Lanka their holiday destination choice. “For years, tourists have flocked to the island as a result of festivals like the Perahera and we intend creating more such festivals,” he said.

Following the success of the first Spice Festival in 2005, the SLTB, this year, has incorporated a ‘Global Spice Village’ showcasing culinary expertise from around the world. It has expanded this year to become bigger and better in terms of increasing the number of chefs and countries represented.

“Commitment to provide exotic choices in keeping with the highest culinary standards and hygiene has been one of Sri Lanka’s priorities. We are happy to support this creative culinary experience in Colombo,” said SriLankan Airlines’ Head of Corporate Communications, Chandana De Silva.

Adding more flavour to the event was the Hawker Street festival which took place on September 15 and 16 at Sathutu Uyana offering an array of great food at nominal rates.

The hotels, cafes, and restaurants that will don the chef’s hat at the ‘Global Spice Village’ are: Chinese cuisine at the Hilton Colombo; South African cuisine at Taj Samudra; Vietnamese cuisine at Trans Asia; Moroccan cuisine at the Cinnamon Grand; Moghul cuisine at the Holiday Inn; Indonesian cuisine at the Ceylon Continental; Thai cuisine at the Mount Lavinia Hotel; Singaporean cuisine at the Water’s Edge; Thai cuisine at the Gallery Café; North Indian cuisine at the Mango Tree restaurant; and Sri Lankan cuisine at Raja Bojun.

Speaking at the launch of the World Spice Festival at Hilton Colombo, Chairman of The Sri Lanka Tourist Board, Udaya Nanayakkara said they are looking at the possibility of taking this festival to rural areas of the country in the future.

Ths Chairman also outlined his plan to hold an International Tea Festival, which will capitalize on Sri Lanka’s greatest resource and use it to draw international crowds to the island. This, he said, is planned for March 2007.

The Sri Lanka Spice Festival, which is an event of The Sri Lanka Tourist Board, has HSBC as its main sponsor, whilst the foreign chefs have been flown down courtesy of Sri Lankan Airlines.

The Wild Life Photographer 2006 contest....

The Wild Life Photographer 2006 contest launched in March this year drew a massive response with over 285 contestants sending in more than 2100 images for the five categories in the competition organized by the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society. After much deliberation, 15 prize winning entries and 60 commended images emerged from the 2100 plus photographs.

The response in the Junior category was equally impressive, say the organizers. With more than 170 entries received, some pictures had stunned even the judges with their quality.

The organizers were quick to throw in a special award for the youngest prize winning/ commended entrant to keep the enthusiasm among children who enjoy the art of wild life photography.

The grand prize giving will be held on September 21 at 5.30 p.m. at the Harold Peiris Gallery of the Lionel Wendt. The exhibition of the chosen images will be open to the public for three days till September 24.

The organizers have also put together a handy exhibition portfolio with all the winning and commended entries.