Dear Friends,The Western Chef’s Association (WICA) is always committed to building up the chefs profession. This was why we formed “WICA” in 2002 as chefs needed a platform to interact and exhibit their skills away from their workplace. Our goal is to educate the Culinary professional and the Pastry chefs of tomorrow in a wide range of fields through a blend of theory and practice. We want our members and Industry partners to be successful in their present and future careers, to be ready for a lifetime of learning and networking.
WICA has been fortunate to have received support from the industry since its inception. Through our commitment and dedication to the welfare of chefs and our profession, the WICA network is growing with each passing day. Our efforts of reaching out to as many chefs as possible are ongoing. We are committed to promoting the growth of Indian cuisine, our brilliant chefs and the chefs profession across the globe.
WICA is committed to training students, having been a teacher myself; I believe unless we invest in the future generations, this profession will not progress. Training is a very important component in development and unless we as chefs don’t spend time to train and develop the next generation our role and job will remain incomplete.
WICA also engages and encourages culinary creativity through its yearly program, Chef’s Connect platform created to share knowledge, encourage culinary creativity and to professionally & socially engage chefs in a 1 day theme based educative & networking program. Chef’s Connect brings under one roof over 250 chefs yearly to discuss learn and disseminate knowledge. The fourth edition will talk about the connection between food & health, the theme for this year being “SWASTHA BHARAT”. A Chefs Perspective
There are plenty of opportunities to grow and learn new ideas in our craft. If you want to be part of WICA & Chef’s Connect, whether being an attendee, a speaker, or to train and teach our next generation, I encourage you to come on board.
Warm regards
Chef Vernon Coelho
Brief Introduction of the President, Chef Vernon Coelho
Chef Vernon Coelho initiated the formation of the Western India Culinary Association (WICA) and is currently its Founding President.
He completed his studies from the Institute of Hotel Management in Mumbai and has traveled extensively around the world promoting Indian cuisine with lectures, workshops and demonstrations.
At the invitation of TAFE, he visited Australia and was also in Mauritius on a Government exchange program. He had sailed with Silver Sea Cruises, the QE II (Cunard Lines) and the Silja Line (Finland) as a Guest Chef dealing exclusively with Indian Food and Spices, besides training the crew in the intricacies of Indian Cuisine. He also went to Helsinki to develop an interest in the food of the Indian sub-continent in Scandinavia.
He is also a Guest Faculty at the Le Cordon Bleu institutes in Paris and London, the first and probably the best known culinary schools founded in 1805. He has also appeared on television programs in the United States and in Finland to talk about and demonstrate Indian Cooking. In October 2000, he was inducted into the Chane des tisseurs, a professional association of chefs, based in Paris but having affiliations world wide. Up until the present, he is the first Indian in the Hospitality Education sector to be awarded this recognition.