The International Food Festival took place on Thursday evening in the Middlebrook Cafeteria with over 100 entries inspired from the food traditions of 23 countries around the world. France proved to be the most popular cuisine in the competition, with India and Italy close behind. The competition was broken down into three categories - appetizers, main courses and desserts.
The International food festival has been managed for the last 10 years by 8th-grade French teacher Simon Bulenzi. This was the first year that the PTA was brought on board to set up for the event and manage the scoring on the day, roles previously been undertaken by the foreign language teachers. This freed up the teachers to judge for the first time, a role which they were clearly all relishing as it involved a great deal of tasting.
Judging took place over two rounds. Two winning dishes from each of the 15 tables made it to the second round where a fresh, hungry batch of judges then faced the grueling task of determining which of the 10 items they tasted would be crowned the top three entries in each category. In all 66 judges were recruited from teachers, parents and town figures- the police department and Wilton volunteer ambulance were both there taking their judging responsibilities very seriously.
Mrs. Priest commented ‘It’s all about flavor and freshness’ Perhaps she has picked up a few ideas to add into next year’s curriculum.
The sheer variety and creativity of the dishes on the show was breathtaking John Miscioscia, President of Wilton Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and judge for the afternoon was heard commenting ‘I came off my diet for this, I was so glad to be invited, this is such a great community event’
The community was what it was all about. organizer Simon Bulenzi said “I enjoy the build-up to the event, the sense of community, and everyone working together to organize a great experience for the students”
The Sixth graders swept the board by finishing top in each of the three categories:
Jake in 6Y finished first in the appetizer section with his tuna tartare dish from Japan (picture bottom left),
Sabir and Ahann also from 6Y was placed first in the main course section with their chicken tikka masala from India (picture top left).
Madeline and Alexis from 6R finished first in desserts with their chocolate and raspberry roulade, from England (picture top right).
Also pictured Mr. Bulenzi, 8th grade French teacher and baker!
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