By Our Correspondent
MINNEPOLIS:Premier cultural institution Shree Chakradhara Mallik Foundation for Odia Culture (SCMFOC) hosted Pitha Competition during the 57th Convention of Odisha Society of Americas (OSA) held recently at Minnepolis in Minnesota State of USA. Twenty two talented culinary experts participated in the most sought after contest designed to showcase the diversity and richness of Odisha’s cuisine heritage. The contestants presented traditional Pithas like Chitau, Enduri, Arisa, Kakara, Manda, Podapitha, Raja Amba Pitha, Saptapuri and many more delicacies. Each participant demonstrated exceptional and extraordinary cooking skill, creative genius and unmatched dedication to preserve, promote and popularize the priceless foodlines of Odisha. While Bijayalaxmi Senapati secured first position for preparing enduri pitha, Gopa Guru won second prize for her podapitha and Sunita Rout got third place for her Kakara pitha. A distinguished panel of three judges consisting of renowned Odissi dance exponent Padmashri Aruna Mohanty, educationist Dr Annapurna Pandey and food connoisseur Dr Nita Mohanty evaluated the competition.
Established in the year 2016 Shree Chakradhara Mallik Foundation for Odia Culture has been rendering yeomen services in projecting and propagating authentic Odia recipes in USA under the able and active stewardships of Alok Mallik from New Jersey and Dipti Mallik from California. For every Odia, Pitha is far more than food—it symbolizes our emotion, bonding, tradition and identity. The aroma of freshly prepared Pitha makes every Odia nostalgic and takes them back in memory lane to childhood, grandparents’ kitchens, village homes, Raja Parba, Manabasa Gurubar, Prathamastami and countless family celebrations.
Even though staying at thousands of miles away from Odisha, a single Pitha reconnects every American Odia with their roots in Odisha. SCMFOC has had the rare honour and prime privilege of highlighting Odisha’s most treasured culinary traditions by proudly sponsoring Pitha Competition. In a statement SCMFOC congratulated all the winners and extended heartfelt appreciations to all participants, volunteers, judges, sponsors and audiences who made the event a grand success. The Foundation specially thanked the dedicated Minnesota Odia organisers like Chinmayee Panda, Gitanjali Das, Purnima Choudhury and Manas Choudhury for their sincere help and tireless efforts. “When we preserve our Pitha, we preserve our stories, our festivals, our traditions and our exclusiveness. “Shree Chakradhara Mallik Foundation for Odia Culture” remains committed to its sole goal of preserving, promoting and passing on Odisha’s rich cultural legacy and age old vibrant heritage to future generations the statement observed.
Addressing the OSA Convention on behalf of SCMFOC, Professor of California University Dr Annapurna Pandey shared the Foundation’s lofty vision and noble mission of establishing the essence and fragrance of Odia culture and heritage at Global platform in a prominent manner. Appealing Odia youths across the Globe to stay connected with their roots, Dr Pandey stressed on the dire need of preserving and protecting Odisha’s arts, culture, tradition, history, heritage, language, literature and values at any cost. Dr Pandey further emphasized that initiatives like Pitha competition are much more than just culinary contests – these endeavours are actually meant for building cultural bridges to connect Odias worldwide and ensure that Odisha’s heritage continues to flourish beyond generations and continents to reach every nook and corner of our Planet.
