CATEGORY:TRAINING ----------------------- By Trevor Thwaites Inside Grenada correspondent Monday January 15,2007 GRENADA - With the ICC Cricket World 2007 a little more than three months away, the region is attempting to boost its culinary skills for the thousands of visitors that are expected in the region for the big cricketing extravaganza. Top chefs from across the region were involved in a five-day Food Handling Seminar, which began Monday January 8 and concluded on Friday January 12 in Basseterre, St Kitts. The exercise not only attempted to sharpen the skills of participants about the preparation of sumptuous Caribbean cuisine, but most importantly it emphasized the importance of proper hygiene during preparation. Grenada was represented by Anthony Antoine of Happy Hill in St George’s- a Chef of 12 years experience with the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. “I hope to boost the knowledge I acquired while working on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines”, Antoine told reporters. He said that the training exercise was timely. “I will like to see people start handling food presentation more effectively. I see workers in restaurants having their feet on tables in dinning rooms. I work in kitchens where the standard is very poor. These need to be upgraded”, he said. Antoine also indicated that as the World Cup draws closer, the country will need to beef up the standard of food presentation. “Foods are more or less jumbled up on the plates. They need to be more organized and appealing to customers. If this can be done, we will make a big impression during the World Cup”, the top Chef said. He nonetheless admitted that there are good cooks and businesses with classy operations in the country, which will learn from the experience in St Kitts. Antoine is expected to pass on the knowledge gained during the workshop, to fellow chefs in the country, so that they can be used during the country’s hosting of matches in the World Cup. More than 10,000 visitors are expected here for the event with hundreds especially from England, Australia, Canada and across the region. Local caters are expecting to accommodate at 90,000 fans during the six days of cricket at the National Stadium from April 10-20.