Lebanese male “chef” winner at the International Academy of Culinary Arts Competition!

The International Academy of Culinary Arts honored the Lebanese chef Nicola Awdeh who won the cooking competition award organized by the institute every year.  During the event hosted in the French capital, Paris, Awdeh prepared a mouthwatering assortment of Lebanese traditional gourmets which were widely acclaimed by the audience. Present were Academy representatives from France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Japan, Switzerland, Greece and others. The Academy which comprises 28 country members seeks to preserve and promote the traditional and ethnic cuisine from around the world.

Chief of the Lebanese Academy of Food Tasting, Fuad al Khazen, emphasized that gastronomy is an essential part of a nation’s culture and therefore should be maintained as such. Similarly, director general of the Academy, Walid Mzannar, underscored the role of the Lebanese cuisine in the life of the people, namely, the tabbouleh and houmos, which are still popular among the Lebanese diaspora. One key gender question that comes to the mind of the editor of this website: why is it that culinary chefs generally are men while women usually perform and excel in household cooking?!). (L’Orient Le Jours, Feb 5, 2015)