Around 80 guests dined on cuisine prepared by the Cafe Spice Namaste kitchen brigade and tutors and hospitality apprentices from Colchester Institute.
Among the attendees was chair of the Asian Restaurant Skills Board Iqbal Wahhab OBE, founder of the Cinnamon Club and owner of Roast.
Addressing the guests, which included families with young children, Wahhab praised the Todiwalas for organising the luncheon, reminding those present of Cyrus’ foresight and historic stance in support of education and training for the Asian culinary sector long before it became fashionable or expedient. He then reminded everyone that ‘More curry (means) more jobs’.
In his keynote speech, guest of honour MP Don Foster, drove home the importance to the Exchequer and to local communities of the Asian food industry, the significance of Asian cuisine to society and culture, and the government’s commitment to supporting its future.
Both the auction and the raffle raised nearly £7,000, with the main beneficiary being the South Asian Cuisine Scholarship Scheme organised and delivered by the London School of Hospitality at the University of West London, headed by Professor David Foskett MBE CMA.
Scholarship students pursue an undergraduate course of study leading to a degree in Culinary Arts Management at UWL, as well as placement opportunities in prestigious London-based South Asian restaurants along with the chance to be mentored by renowned Asian chefs.
Also in attendance were several representatives and guests of sector skills council, People 1st, including Head of Accreditation Annette Allmark.
The employer-led, publicly funded body is working through its Hospitality Guild and with the Asian and Oriental Cuisine Centres of Excellence, launched last year, to provide pre-employment training to unemployed people eager to become chefs in Asian and Oriental cooking and to gain places as apprentices in high-profile Asian restaurants.
Like the scholarship scheme, it is hoped that the apprenticeships programme will help solve the growing shortage of chefs needed to sustain a £3 billion industry.
Cyrus said: “Education and training are among my strongest passions, and I have always believed that the Asian food industry should take the matter of ensuring the future standards and delivery of authentic Asian cuisine into its own hands. Mastara Chef, the overarching education and training programme of the Asian Restaurant Skills Board, could be a very potent missile that we as Asian chefs and restaurateurs can use to target the undesirable consequences of government’s strict immigration policies and the on-going shortage of chefs of Asian cuisine.
“Pervin and I are immensely grateful to sponsors like Bernard Matthews, i heart wines, Town & Country and Cobra Beer for their unqualified support in making this luncheon possible. Stalwarts like Iqbal Wahhab, an Asian businessman who has helped rally so many top chefs and restaurants to a common cause – and one so close to my heart – as well as all of those who have donated fantastic auction and raffle prizes like my friends Philip Corrick of the Royal Automobile Club and Simon Young of Jumeirah Carlton Tower, the Tamarind Collection, Roast, Blue Elephant, Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, Zaika, Chor Bizarre, Bombay Brasserie and Quilon are all to be commended.
“We are all in this together, and more determined than ever to ensure the sustainability of this fantastic industry.”