Eating five-star restaurant food was a dream come true for Savio. The 14-year-old had eaten such food almost a year ago at the Fr Agnel Institute of Food Crafts & Culinary Science, Verna, on October 14. This is because for the last eight years, Goa’s chef community, led by the Culinary Forum of Goa (CFG), has joined hands to feed over 300 underprivileged kids to commemorate International Chefs Day on October 20.
Today’s lunch had everything a kid would want on his plate, from French fries, nuggets, pizzas and fried rice to garlic chicken and noodles.
“We came here for the last many years, and we wait for this buffet the most,” says Savio as he patiently cut into the piece of chocolate pastry and ate it. Like Savio, there were 270 children and 39 caretakers who were fed this scrumptious food prepared by resorts, restaurants and chefs from Goa.
Alphonso Pereira, Principal of Fr Agnel Institute of Food Crafts & Culinary Science, believes that charity needs to be taught from the start. “The culinary industry makes a lot of money throughout the year, but sometimes it’s good to give back to society. As a college, our students help in the service during the charity lunch, so it’s also a way for them to experience the art of giving.” He adds that in the past there were many ex-students working in resorts who gave their contribution to these underprivileged kids.
Chef Manjit Singh Rattu, Senior Executive Chef at Holiday Inn Resort, South Goa, was excited to see so many kids eat to their heart's content.
“Events like these make you value the food that you get on your plate. Organising the event for so many years now, I feel that among these students who eat at the charity lunch, we may have the best chefs someday. It’s cute – when you ask them what they like the most, they say French fries, nuggets and pastries.”
The kids were later entertained with dance, games and magic shows. The charity lunch was sponsored by Holiday Inn Resort, Fisherman’s Wharf, Zuri White Sands, Casino Gold, Caravela Beach Resorts, Foodybreaks Academy, Donna Italia, Radisson Blu, Club Mahindra, Chef Gurdeep, TVM, and Chef Jerry.
It was an exciting, fun-filled evening for the kids, who wait with eager anticipation for this five-star meal every year in October.