"11 teams are participating in the culinary competition, of which six will be short- listed. Each team will have to prepare a four-course meal and four portions of each.

Two portions are for judging and the other two are for display. Similarly, in the pastry competition which will be held Tuesday, there will be 12 teams would compete, of which six will be short-listed," Jodha told IANS.

Of each of the six teams in the culinary and the pastry section, three will compete in the finals.

As one takes a turn from the culinary section, where the chefs are busy juggling and chopping vegetables, mincing meat and taking various dishes in and out of the ovens, one comes to the wine section.

C.T.G. Trambusti Gigliola's stall has wines from 13 well-known Italian wine companies. C.T.G.'s stall was a crowd-puller. "We have the best of Italian wines in our stall. And, what more, customers can also taste wines like Provenza and Chianti. The best thing is that buyers can come to one place and select from a whole range of wines, which suit their palette," said Swadhin Panda, marketing head of the India office.

The fair is expected to provide a business platform to meet sourcing needs for the latest in food and beverage, bakery, food service, hospitality equipment, products, services and technology.

Besides the culinary, pastry and wine tasting challenges, there will also be interactive sessions on legal issues in hospitality industry, which will have a mixed panel of lawyers and industry professionals.

There will also be sessions on shortage of trained manpower and financing, equity and operating options.

The event will include a seminar on revenue management in association with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), as well as seminars for purchase managers and general managers.