The Salesforce Fun Cook-Off
Trust us when we say this, there is no better way to bond with your team than the culinary way. That is what the team from Salesforce also realised when they stepped into our studio and got cooking!
A team of 15 from Salesforce came over to The Culinary Lounge on a wet October afternoon skeptical about what the afternoon held for them. For the first time, they were out to cook their own lunch and neither of them were keen to call themselves seasoned cooks. The nervousness in them was palpable but soon, all that flew out of the window just as we got started.
The cuisine of choice that afternoon was Indian. Recipe sheets were provided and the chef was at hand to guide the teams through every step of the way. Each team was going to cook Veg Pulao, Paneer Butter Masala, Rotis and Pineapple Sheera for dessert. While some knew their way around a cooking station, for most this was the first time in the kitchen. Soon, with the chef’s help and the team members support, you could see inhibitions diminishing. People started relaxing and enjoying the cook. At The Culinary Lounge, we always believe that cooking is one of the best stress busters we have at our disposal and each time a corporate team comes over, we are yet again proved right. We could soon see people laughing, enjoying themselves and working up quite an appetite for themselves.
We started off with the Pineapple sheera and with one dish completed and chilling in the fridge you could see the confidence increasing amongst the team members. The next hour saw the Paneer Butter Masala, Pulao and Rotis being prepared. While the same recipe was followed by all, each team’s dish tasted distinctly different, albeit delicious. With the cook-off done, each set off to taste the dishes with a sense of accomplishment and enthusiasm. Everyone agreed this was indeed a unique way of getting to know your team members better; their strengths, weaknesses and personalities that is otherwise difficult to understand within the confines of the office environment.
As everyone feasted on each other’s labour-of-love, they decided to take a poll and rate each dish on a scale of 5; 1 being bad, and 5 being good. Each team member rated the different dishes prepared by each team and yes, there were front-runners for each dish that afternoon, but if you ask us, everyone did a fabulous job and it was yet another fun and productive afternoon for us all in The Culinary Lounge kitchen studio.