The long-awaited KDI School International Food Festival took place on the 13^th of November 2015. It is arguably one of the largest, most important and most interesting occasions for the staff and students of KDI School. It is one event that showcases the best asset of the school; it’s global community. This event involves the preparation and savoring of cuisines from different countries of the world, including those represented at KDI School.

There were nine groups in total namely; The Safari, with delicacies form Egypt, Lebanon, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Tunisia. The second group was the DelicAsia with delicacies from Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, The Philippines and Vietnam.  The Fusion Culture group had delicacies from Cambodia, Ecuador, El-Salvador, Jamaica, Lituania and Mexico. The fourth group was the Asean Sensation with delicacies from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Bhutan and Maldives. The fifth group was the Global Kitchen with a global array of dishes- an intercontinental selection of the Chef’s variety. The sixth group was the Lucky Clover consisting of delicacies form Korea and Myanmar. The seventh group was the Lucky 7 with delicacies from Uzbekistan, Krygystan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. The African Finger Licking Cuisine was the eighth group consisting of varieties from Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal and the Gambia. Finally, the ninth group the K-Star had delicacies from Korea and the Philippines.

The program began with a welcoming of all staff and students, the entire KDI School community and invited guests. The evaluation process was explained to give all participants an insight on what they will be judged on and the rating measure and also to give the judges (all guests) an understanding of what the assessment criteria entails. Besides the winning award, there were two other awards- the best food and the best culture awards. The best food was to be judged based on taste and the best culture award was judged on the food that was most representative of the culture they were portraying.

Food is a unifying force as there were some similarities and some great differences- such is the diversity and beauty of culture. The participants dressed in their traditional attires, the different colors of the meals, the many exquisite serving styles; it was like taking a trip round the world. From appetizers to main dishes to desserts, participants went all out to ensure that their countries, their culture and their people were ably represented.

Then, the event was officially declared open with a taste of each meal on display. Having a taste of the different meals, one could almost tell something of the different cultures represented, participants went ahead to explain what the foods meant and the occasions when it is served in their countries.

After the tasting came the evaluation. Guests cast their votes for the teams of their choice and the award for best food went to the Asian sensation while the best culture award went to the Finger Licking Cuisine group. The grand prize went to the Lucky 7. Indeed, all participants were true winners as they had a good time and it was a time of bonding between nations and among friends.

By Oluremilekun Akinyemi (2015 MDP, Nigeria)