The Food Safari and Home Electronics Fair 2010

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The Food Safari & Home Electronics Fair started and ended with a bang. The event lasted from November 5 to November 7, 2010 (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.) and was held at Suntec Convention Halls. It was organized and sponsored by the Singapore Press Holdings’ wholly-owned subsidiary Sphere Exhibits.

The great thing about the whole food convention was that the admission was free – yes, anybody can just drop by and check out what was happening. People were able to check out over 50 food stalls, offering succulent and delicious delicacies. People had the chance to enjoy famous delicacies like lechon baboy (roast pork) prepared by Filipino participants, tapas from the Spanish participants, kebabs from Turkish cooks and tikkas from the Indian chefs. People were able to try out different delicacies from all over the world.

They also enjoyed amazing home appliance packages and offers. Best Denki had its own booth in the Electronics Section where they featured home appliances and electronic gadgets. They offered amazing bargains for their products.

Foodies who do not know how to cook benefited from attending the workshops at The Food Safari. They only had to pay a small fee and they were able to pick up valuable culinary tips from the cooking demos. Wine lovers must have enjoyed the wine tasting tips as well.

The same wine lovers thoroughly enjoyed themselves trying out different beverages at the Watering Hole section. There was endless flow of beer supply. Tea lovers had the chance to try out Dilmah Tea’s new range of products while dessert lovers were able to taste the culinary offerings of the event’s amazing pastry chefs/participants. The frozen mouse cake from The Patissier was simply incredible.

The Food Safari opened with “Violet Oon Cooks around the World”, a program hosted by Violet Oon, a famous food consultant. This kicked off a series of engaging stage programs that included all kinds of culinary activities like kids’ sandwich making, buns wrapping contests and roti prate throwing. Food writers from The Sunday Times which included Tan Hsueh Yun, Thng Lay Teen and Wong Ah Yoke showed up as well and cooked their favorite dishes for the lucky audience.

People also had fun at the cake-a-décor competition, an event co-sponsored by Singapore Bakery and Confectionary Trade Association and Sphere Exhibits. This was one of the most interesting parts of the whole event. People were given a glimpse of the skill required for the intricate art of cake decoration. Cake decorators were given the chance to showcase their skills to the eager public.

One of the main highlights of The Food Safari was the Champion Culinary Challenge. In fact, I dropped by the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday exactly for this event. This cooking challenge showcased the talents of promising young chefs. Challengers were asked to create an innovative new dish using the food products prepared by Tasty Singapore, one of the event’s sponsors. The event was opened only to members of the Singaporean Chef’s Association and professional chefs.

The participants went through two levels of challenges. In the first challenge, they were asked to create a new dish which best represents Singaporean flavors. In the second and final challenge, they were asked to prepare a dish from the ingredients inside a Mystery Basket. The event was run similar to the format of Japanese Iron Chef.

There were four teams in action (they were the winners of the first round of the competition the day prior) Marina Mandarin Hotel, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Furama Riverfront Hotel and Crowne Plaza Hotel- all Singapore based properties. Each team comprised of two contestants. At the end of the challenge, it was the team from Marina Mandarin Hotel who clinched the top.

The Food Safari was definitely a huge success. Make sure you mark your calendar so you don’t miss next year’s event if you did not get the opportunity to visit this year’s event.