Families in Samoa were invited to bring their children along to participate in the day’s festivities, which saw a number of schools bringing out their students to enjoy cooking demonstrations, nutritional talks, aerobics and yoga classes among other things.
The event was organised by Samoan Culinary Association (SCA) in association with World Association of Chefs Society and Ministry of Health.
International Chefs Day takes place on the 20th of October every year and has over 10 million chefs engaging in social activities in their local communities on that day. The selected theme by the World Chefs for the 2016 congress was ‘World on a Plate’.
Chefs in the Pacific are playing an increasing role in the tourism sector, with moves to develop the region as a prime gastronomic destination.
At the 2nd Pacific Agribusiness Forum in Apia in August, SPTO organised a special Chefs Training Programme on “Pacific Contemporary Island Cuisine” for hotel and local chefs in conjunction with Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation and Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).
Under the programme, renowned regional chefs Robert Oliver and Colin Chung provided training on innovative uses of Pacific ingredients and advocate in favour of greater consumption of local products.