SILVER MEDAL: 'Enchantment' by Jomo Morriss in the category of Wedding and Celebration Cakes. - Carlington Wilmot/Freelance Photographer
IT WAS no cake walk for participants in last Friday's Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's (JCDC) Festival of Foods eastern region finals.
The competition was boiling as more than 500 amateur chefs went head to head at the Chinese Benevolent Association on Hope Road, St. Andrew, in a bid for culinary glory. They competed in categories such as Desserts, Batters and Doughs; Main Dishes; and Vegetables and Fruits.
While the wedding and celebration cakes provided a feast for the eyes, bussu stew, ackee punch, and baked stuff salted mackerel in yam had the judges and members of the public drooling.
Participants, mainly students from St. Thomas, St. Catherine, Kingston and St. Andrew, competed for gold medals and awards in seven classes, sponsor's products and traditional dishes.
The live competitions - napkin folding, table setting and mystery basket cook off - kept patrons entertained as students matched their skills against time and creativity.
In the end, more than 400 medals were issued.
