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The much-awaited 2022 edition of First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s Amai’s Traditional Cook-out competitions took off to a good start in Mashonaland Central Province yesterday.
In her keynote address at the event, the Guest of Honour, the Deputy Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Honourable Barbara Rwodzi said as a way follow up to the launch, most provinces will host their provincial competitions culminating in the finals to be held on 25 May in Harare.
The initiative Traditional Cook Out competition is a brainchild of the First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Amai A Mnangagwa, which she pioneered.
“It has doors for local communities and the nation at large to celebrate and embrace our diverse culture and traditional cuisine. Zimbabwe is a nation that is rich in history and heritage hence initiatives such as this one not only give us an opportunity to show the world what we have but also connect future and present generations with their rich heritage roots and culture.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as the nation moves towards the national vision of being a prosperous and empowered upper-middle-class society by 2030, we can only do so if we embrace who we are as a people. While we belong to the global community, we must maintain our identity and this is one of the key forces that drive our patron, Amai A Mnangagwa, to come up with initiatives like these. In the Tourism and Hospitality industry, we salute Amai and we will make sure that her dream stays alive. I am glad that all the provinces have demonstrated the same enthusiasm as was the case with the last edition and demonstrated by your commitment today,” Hon Rwodzi said.
Despite the short notice received following the recent lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, every district in the Province has managed to participate. This is in line with the Devolution Policy and the National Development Strategy 1 that no one and no place should be left behind even when organising events of national magnitude.
“Allow me to say to all our participants, thank you for rising to the occasion. I have had an opportunity to tour all the displays. Indeed, this contest has fully represented Mashonaland Central Province. I have learnt new ways of preparing some dishes and at the same time, I got to taste some dishes that I had never eaten before. My Ministry will continue to work with the Ministers of States and the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development to ensure that these dishes find their way into our restaurants and hotels.
“As we host both our local and international tourists, we want them to fully appreciate what the destination has to offer and this includes eating our diverse dishes and having a memorable culinary experience. This also is one of the ways we can clearly distinguish our tourism products across provinces and from other competing destinations. We want to get to a stage where visitors will want to visit each province for its distinct cuisine. I am certain that as we refine this competition, we will also grow these competitions to a point where they also become a tourism product where food lovers from across the globe will start to follow and join physically when we hold these competitions. Food is one of the things that unify us as people and there are many food competitions that are held across the globe to testify to this. It is my wish and hope that, we will see one of these dishes prepared on those platforms in the near future.”
Hon Rwodzi encouraged everyone involved in coordinating not to take the competitions lightly since they are the beginning of great things to come.
“I, therefore, would like to emphasize that; this is a platform that Amai has created but it’s a national platform upon which the world gets to view who we are as a people. It is therefore incumbent upon each person from the farmer, who farms and produces the ingredients to the participants, who join the competitions and to the adjudicators to make sure that we aim for excellence.
“Let me take this opportunity to salute all our participants for preparing the mouthwatering dishes. Also, I would like to commend the Chiefs’ wives for their critical role in preserving our culture and guiding the participants in the preparation for this event. Everyone is a winner…. WELL DONE. Honourable Minister of State and Devolution, Hon Mliswa, thank you, for putting together this event. My Ministry is humbled that you have put aside other pressing projects to make sure that today’s competitions are held. Tinotenda.”
She congratulated the winners of yesterday’s competition and encouraged them to embrace a fusion of what the province has to offer as they compete at the finals to be held in May 2022.
“Engage your fellow participants and work together as you prepare for the finals. Your win is no longer an individual or district win, but it will be a Mashonaland Central win. What we want to see at the finals are the dishes that are unique or prepared in a manner that is unique to this province. This will help us to develop and refine our uniqueness as a tourism destination. We look forward to future partnerships on this project and many others that will see the upliftment and improvement of lives for the people of this great province,” Hon Rwodzi added.