Kerala food controversy: Culinary expert Pazhayidam Mohanan Namboothiri to not take part in coming festivals

The Kerala school youth festival lost its well-respected kitchen head who vowed not to return after a communal campaign in some sections over not serving non-vegetarian food, even as a skit came under the scanner of a minister.

The Kerala School Kalolsavam is considered to be Asia’s largest and around 11,000 students participated in around 240 events in this year’s fest held at Kozhikode.

The festival concluded on Saturday, but the food row that came to light last week refused to die down.

Culinary expert Pazhayidom Mohanan Namboothiri, who was in charge of the kitchen, on Sunday said he would stop participating at the fest as the “unnecessary controversy” of not serving non-vegetarian dishes hurt him a lot.

“This time we did not allow anyone to enter our kitchen after this controversy. Normally, that’s not the situation. I was quite worried this time. The trend has changed and I am worried about it and have decided not to take part in such youth festivals any more,” Namboothiri told TV channels.

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Namboothiri has been a staple of the fest, running the kitchen and serving sumptuous delicacies for the last 16 years after winning tenders.

The controversy was triggered by a section of people on social media who questioned the rationale of serving only vegetarian dishes at the school fest.

It gained momentum after a social media post on Wednesday by Asokan Charuvil, general secretary of pro-left literary outfit Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangam, who said that a “Brahmin cooking food at the fest is the contribution of the renaissance in Kerala”.

This triggered an intense exchange of views.

A Facebook user charged that the “vegetarian only” menu in the festival was part of “vegetarian fundamentalism” and a “reflection of caste belief”.

Another person, in his Facebook post, lamented that the presence of Brahmins in the kitchens of art festivals was the commemoration of the “surrender of renaissance and democratic values at the feet of Brahmanism”.

The row prompted Education Minister V Sivankutty to declare that non-vegetarian dishes would be served at the fest from next year.

But the damage had been done.

Namboothiri lamented the communal campaigns over food served to children. “The government could have easily made a decision to serve non-vegetarian dishes but instead some people decided to taint my image. Some people tried to bring in caste and religion,” he said.

Skit row

Apart from food, another row was brewing over a skit performance.

Kerala Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas demanded a probe into the portrayal of a person in a Muslim attire as a terrorist in the inaugural skit of the youth festival. The CPM leader also said the Sangh Parivar links of those in charge of the skit need to be looked into.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had earlier flayed the CPM-led left front government in Kerala over the skit.