Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Members of the media took part in a cook-off challenge organised by VIVA Bahrain. GulfWeekly’s Charlie Holding tried to take advantage of his diluted Italian heritage to come up with a pizza, though not a prize-winning one.
VIVA Bahrain had the recipe for success when it invited members of the kingdom’s media for a special cook-off challenge held at the Royal Golf Club in Riffa.
The event marked a departure from last year’s VIVA event at the Bahrain International Circuit.
VIVA Bahrain CCO Andrew Hanna said: “Last year, we hosted a motor racing event and received great participation from various media outlets that put on a thrilling competition. This year, we delivered another friendly challenge for our media with many of the participants producing great-tasting dishes. It was fun to watch the media perform their culinary tasks and enjoy themselves adding their own special touch to the dishes they created.
“We will continue to organise fun and exciting initiatives like these which will hopefully give us an opportunity to build on our relationship with the media fraternity and showcase our partnerships with different organisations across the island, the Royal Golf Club being one of them.”
With the new theme ready to go, some of the kingdom’s top media representatives created tasty treats from the ingredients provided by the kitchen team.
Participants were split into two groups giving them a chance to experience a different culinary challenge creating their own signature dishes.
The first group was tasked with making a pizza from scratch while the second group performed in teams to create pasta-based dishes. Each culinary concoction was scrutinised by three judges on three key points – taste, creativity and presentation.
After deciding on their dish of choice and being split into teams, the media were ushered into their respective restaurants to get cookin’.
I take every available opportunity to brag about my diluted Italian heritage and this event was no different. It is also a little-known fact that I spent a year as a Papa John’s Pizza employee while working my way through university … needless to say, I decided to make a pizza.
Under the watchful eye of executive chefs Theo Botha and Sylvester Rozario, we were taught how to make our own dough, adorn it with delicious toppings and bake it to perfection ready to be sampled by the judges.
It’s important to see the funny side in life and it’s a truism that laughter and good food go hand-in-hand. With this in mind, I decided to make a ‘happy face’ pizza.
A dollop of tomato sauce on the base, a sprinkling of cheese, a dash of herbs and spices, some strategically placed pepperoni and vegetables and I was in business.
As my pizza emerged from the oven, golden brown with the cheese still bubbling, I thought I was on to a winner.
Sadly, however, I was pipped at the post by Abbas Radhi from Al Ayam. I didn’t just feel like I’d let myself down, but my mate Papa John too. At least it confirmed my suspicions that I made the right choice by picking a career in journalism over the food industry.
