Three days of passion, precision and pride is what clearly describes the African culinary competitions concluded on Wednesday, April 15th in Nairobi, Kenya.
Dubbed the Ladha Za Afrika Culinary Competition, the three-day event held between April 13th and 16th at Boma International Hospitality College (BIHC) celebrates the richness, diversity and pride of African cuisines while positioning the continent within a rapidly evolving global gastronomy landscape.
This year’s competition, the second of its kind, brought together hospitality students and professional chefs from across Africa to present modern interpretations of traditional African dishes, using locally sourced ingredients and sustainable cooking practices.
Uganda was represented at the highly billed event by a team from the Jinja-based Hotel and Tourism Training College (HTTC) formally Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute.
“We are truly grateful to Boma International Hospitality College for giving us the opportunity to be part of such a remarkable celebration of African culinary excellence. It was an honor to stand alongside some of the continent’s finest talent,” said Emmanuel Kaweesi, the Dean of Academics of the Jinja-based institution.
The competition held under the theme; ‘Ladha Za Africa, promoting Africanicity in cookery and service, featured two trades; Culinary Art and Restaurant Service with HTTC’s Paul Terran Lugobe emerging 3rd out of 11 competitors who turned up for the Culinary Art category.
The other HTTC competitor, Brenda Alanyo, walked away with a designer award in barista, mixology and general restaurant service.
In an exclusive interview with our reporter, Lugobe attributed her success to the professional training offered by industry grounded experts at HTTC.
“It was an honour to compete at a high level with the best across the continent and the fact that I emerged among the best is a testament to the skill level and the training offered at the college,” Lugobe said.
The host appreciated Uganda’s participating in the competitions, saying the gesture offers mileage on the collaboration between BIHC and HTTC.
A total of 12 institutions from across Africa participated in the competition with seven of the institutions coming from the host country, Kenya. The absence of the famous Utalii College from the competition, however, didn’t go unnoticed.
The other countries that presented competitors include Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, South Africa and Uganda.
The competition chief judge who also doubles as the African Chefs Alliance, Shaun Smith, pledged to grace the National Hospitality Skills competitions that will be held at HTTC in September.
HTTC launched the National Hospitality Skills competition last year with the second edition slated for September. A total of eight institutions participated in the inaugural competitions held in February, last year.
