KOCHI: Bhima, Ravana, Ghatotkhacha, Kumbhakarna and Great Khali battled it out. Grand spreads of biriyani were laid out in front of them. Even as the sun bore down on them, they chugged their way through the food, delving into it using cutlery and wolfing down the meal. And at the end of the clash of the Titans, the Great Khali emerged victorious.
“Pour some Raita,” Gautham called out from behind, cheering team ‘Bhima’, the team of friends from Envestnet company.With six team members, Bhima was just one of the names assigned to those participating in the unique biriyani eating competition ‘Clash of the Foodies’.“For us, it is like a food fest on all days. Food unites us,” says Viswanath Harikumar, grinning widely. Battling under the label of ‘Bhima’, the friends and colleagues from Envestnet were trying their luck for the first time. “We had read up on how to eat fast and some of us refrained from having solid food some 18 hours back,” he adds, ahead of the competition.
Organised by Uday Samudra, Kovalam to mark the Friendship Day, the food competition saw the five teams pushing their way through the eating contest adhering to table etiquette. With fork and spoon, they plowed their way through the competitive feast of biriyani. This eating competition was one that foodies had to tackle using cutlery; no hands, please.
“It is not a competition of eating. The basic table manners of using fork and knife need to be adhered to here. Moreover, they shouldn’t waste food. We will be ensuring that not even a single grain of rice is wasted,” said Raja Gopaal Iyer, CEO, UDS. “I have been to several food eating competitions. A lot of food gets wasted. When competitors adhere to table etiquette, food doesn’t get wasted. They will be informed only at the start of the competition that they will have to use cutlery,” he says ahead of the fest. Earlier, the competition was planned to be held incorporating the knockout stages followed in FIFA World Cup and to coincide with the World Cup when the city was gripped with the football frenzy.
“Like a Biriyani FIFA. We will be doing it in those lines next year,” he added.The teams were selected out of fifteen registrations. Each team comprised six members. There was no time limit and all they needed to do was complete eight Edangazhi (1 edangazhi= 800 g approximately) of biriyani rice and 5 litres of lime juice. A doctor was always on standby. The competitors were an eclectic mix ranging from engineers to gym trainers.The team which made headway was that of the gym trainers from Power Gym and they ultimately emerged winners, bagging the gift voucher worth Rs 10,000.