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IN line with the Bahrain Pavilion’s objectives to raise awareness of the kingdom’s rich heritage from its agricultural history and practice to nutrition and local food, the Culture and Antiquities Authority has embarked on a crowd-sourced initiative for a recipe book dedicated to Bahraini cuisine.

The authority invites Bahrain residents to share a favourite recipe for inclusion within the cookbook, which will be sold both in Milan and Bahrain as part of the programme of activities undertaken for the Bahrain Pavilion. The deadline for recipe submission is May 15.

Alongside the favourite Bahraini recipe, interested parties should indicate the type of recipe submitted (breakfast, appetiser, main dish or dessert etc) and any special dietary needs targeted as well as the name of the contributor and a special memory associated with the dish.

The authority is looking to create a Bahraini cookbook which, in addition to collating recipes and local food styles for international audiences, also evokes some of the memories associated with each dish.

Themed Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, the Expo Milano 2015 revolves around nutrition and sustainability, highlighting the importance of protecting the planet’s natural resources. The various national pavilions shed light on the diverse cultural characters of countries around the world, allowing visitors to sample traditional foods and learn more about the cultural attributes and agrarian heritages of different nations.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture in 2014, Archaeologies of Green is conceived as a continuous landscape of fruit gardens that each contain a dominant fruit tree that is native to Bahrain and are intersected by a series of closed spaces that contain in turn a reception area, exhibition spaces and a café serving local Bahraini food.

Noura Al Sayeh, Deputy Commissioner General of Archaeologies of Green - the Bahrain Pavilion.

Editor’s note: Recipes should be sent to bahrainpavilion2015@moc.gov.bh

THE UK Electoral Commission has launched a dedicated overseas voter registration campaign.

The campaign aims to encourage British citizens living overseas to register to vote ahead of the UK Parliamentary General Election, due to take place on Thursday, May 7.

This is the first UK General Election where people can register to vote online. The Electoral Commission hopes that the new online process will encourage more UK nationals living overseas to register to take part in elections from overseas.

Estimates show that there may be as many as 5.5 million UK nationals living overseas, but there are fewer than 20,000 currently on the electoral registers.

To register as an overseas voter, UK residents overseas must have previously been registered in a UK constituency within the last 15 years.

A lot of people aren’t aware that it’s possible to register as an overseas voter for the General Election. We need to challenge the misconception that once you’ve moved overseas you can’t take part. That’s why we are urging UK nationals who are now living abroad to visit https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and make sure they will be able to have their say at the General Election in May.

Alex Robertson, Director of Communications at the Electoral Commission.

THANKS for advertising our ‘Death of a Chef’ murder mystery dinner at the British Club next week. I’m delighted to say that the event has sold out ... RESULT!
Michelle Page,

Fundraising Coordinator
BSPCA.

THE Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship is an innovative initiative designed to cement Bahrain’s position as the regional hub for aspiring business owners and entrepreneurship. In its first year, the Awards have been launched with the partnership of Tamkeen, EDB, BDB, and Knowledge advisors BCCI, UNIDO, EY Bahrain and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

As part of the Awards, an online poll for one of its categories, the People’s Choice Award, has just been launched. This interactive element allows the public to choose winners simply by clicking on their entry of choice on the official awards website www.BahrainAE.com

The online vote remains open until 1pm on Saturday and everyone is encouraged to vote.

The People’s Choice Award semi-finalists as listed on the website are: Bayanat DMC, Namaste, Sugar & Lace and Wood Jewellery for Micro-Enterprise of the Year; Amina Gallery, EAT, Obai & Hill and Startup Bahrain for Startup of the Year; Creative Style, Designer Shaik, Ideas Information Technology and Maya La Chocolaterie for Enterprise of the Year (SMEs); 2Connect, Abdulla Ahmed Nass & Sons Co., Dadabhai Travel & Tours Co and KMC Holding for Enterprise of the Year (Large Companies); and Almoayyed Contracting Group, BMMI, Reef Arabia and The K Hotel for the Sustainable Business Award.

Winners in each award category have the chance to further sustain their businesses and grow for the future, as some of the prizes include enrolment in development programmes, start-up funding capital, business coaching, business incubators and accelerators, growth plan development in addition to training and certification.

For further information please visit www.BahrainAE.com, follow Twitter, Instagram and Facebook account on @BahrainAE contact the award’s hotline on 17000710 between 7.30am and 11pm or email info@BahrainAE.com

Mohammad Almail,
Consultant.