THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cacophony of the four-day youth jamboree is over. But the taste of the mind-blowing dishes served at the fest lingers on. And basking amidst this is chef Antony as visitors, participants, parents, teachers, mediapersons and organisers shower praise on him for the palettes they savoured during the past four days.
Being a chief cook at the venue of revenue district school arts fete, the 51-year-old man was over the moon as he got accolades from all around. It was his third year at the district arts fest and he said he prefers the festival ambience to grand wedding feasts.
Though it was his third year at the district arts fest, he has already proven his skill at the sub-district school arts festivals which were held at various venues over the last ten years.
“It was the positive review of the food served in previous festivals which gave me an opportunity to serve at the mega event. I wanted to do the job with utmost perfection and their beaming faces give utmost satisfaction to me,” Antony says.
When a wedding season comes, Antony is so busy that he rarely goes home. He hails from a small village Mavilakadavu near Kulathoor, Neyyattinkara. However, cooking at art festivals gives him more satisfaction than wedding functions.
“It is the same menu at wedding feasts, be it a Hindu wedding or a Christian one. Besides, the job at wedding functions is over in a day while the job at the school art festival extends for four days”, he said.
"We had to serve meals for over 4,000 people at a time and it is a huge challenge to serve the food to all in a short time." “Usually, I prepare more quantity of food than what is ordered to avoid shortage at the last moment,” Antony says.
The cooking is done by a 30-member team headed by Antony. Food committee officials said 80 quintals of rice, six quintals of black gram, 4.5 quintals of coconut oil and 8,500 coconuts were procured additionally for preparing the grand feast.
As he prepares for the busy season, Antony has only one prayer- to get a chance to serve at state school art festival.