Forty home cooks compete in the foundation’s first cooking contest; literary contributors honoured
Lucknow: The Lucknow Connection Worldwide Foundation (LCWWF) held its first-ever cooking competition on Sunday at Ehsaas, Gomti Nagar, as part of a three-in-one event titled ‘Utkarsh: From Flavour to Felicitation’. The gathering combined food, social engagement and literature under one roof.
Dr. K.K. Asthana and Dr. Srishti Srivastava attended as Chief Guests. Shri Mukul Mahan, Shri Rajeev Varna ‘Vatsal’ and Ms. Alka Singh Tomar were Guests of Honour.
A competition rooted in memory
The centrepiece was ‘Rasoi Se Yaadon Tak’ (From the Kitchen to Memories), in which 40 participants entered dishes in three categories: Traditional Recipes, Lost Recipes and Sweet Memories. Everything was cooked at home and then presented with creative flair at the venue.
Judges Tripti Pandey, Rupali Gupta and Richa Jaswani scored entries on taste (40 marks), presentation and decoration (40 marks) and uniqueness (20 marks). Dr. Maninder Kaur coordinated the competition.
The winners
- Traditional Recipes: Jaya Shrivastava took first place with Meeza Rice, and Jyoti Sahu was runner-up with a Traditional Thali.
- Sweet Memories: Seema Sinha won with Corn Halwa, followed by Kirti Shukla with Shankargand Ki Kheer.
- Lost Recipes: Anju Tripathi placed first with Bajra Ki Khichdi, and Nikita Gupta second with Pangujuya.
- Audience Prize: Vinod Shrivastava, for his Shahi Zarda.
Every participant received a certificate of appreciation.
Social connect
The social segment featured Dr. (H.C.) Shachi Singh Seth, Founder of Ehsaas, as Special Invitee. She has more than 25 years of experience in education, child development, youth empowerment and social development, and has worked extensively for the welfare of children and young people.
The Foundation’s Social Services Wing was represented by Admin and Programme Coordinator Shri Kailash Kumar Srivastava, who spoke about its ongoing initiatives and plans to widen its reach.
Honouring the literary contributors
The event also recognised members involved in LCWWF’s literary work. Twenty-one poetesses were felicitated for their active participation in the Foundation’s Mahila Kavya Goshthis: Ajita Gupta, Dr. Shobha Dixit ‘Bhavana’, Prof. Shobha Bajpai, Varsha Srivastava, Amita Mishra, Sheetal Bajpai, Shweta Srivastava, Dr. Reema Chhabra, Sandhya Srivastava, Kalpana Mishra, Saroj Bala Soni, Dr. Reema Sinha, Prof. JahanAara, Rashmi Singh, Namita Sachan Sundar, Shikha Srivastava, Seema Bajpai, Deepika, Manju Saxena, Neerja Shukla and Kavita Mishra.
Six contributors to the flagship programme ‘Kagaz Kalam Kitab’ were also honoured: Dr. Arjun Pandey, Mrs. Kumkum Chaturvedi, Mrs. Rashmi Singh, Mrs. Nivedita Srivastava, Dr. Manju Shukla and Dr. Ranjana Deane.
The felicitations were coordinated by Ms. Chitra Venkatramanan, Ms. Pooja Srivastava and Ms. Shweta Srivastava.
Foundation members present included Anil Shukla, Prof. (Dr.) Shobha Bajpai, Dr. Rajeev Saxena, Kailash Kumar Srivastava, Neerja Shukla, Vinod Srivastava, Anil Shukla (Jr.), Chitra Venkatramanan, Pooja Srivastava, Dr. Maninder Kaur, Rashmi Singh and Shweta Srivastava, among others.
The organisers said ‘Utkarsh’ was meant to be more than a cooking contest. It was designed as a space where food, memory, creativity, social engagement and literature could meet. Through ‘Rasoi Se Yaadon Tak’, traditional and forgotten recipes were brought back into focus, while the felicitations acknowledged members who have helped LCWWF’s literary activities grow.
