Books with taste

The 2011 Shanghai International Literary Festival is not only satisfying people's intellectual appetites but also their gastronomical ones. At 9:30 am M on the Bund, one of the city's premiere restaurants, was bustling with eager participants. These competitors were not looking to showcase their literature skills but rather their culinary ones at Books2eat, Shanghai's third annual edible book competition. At the event 22 entrants competed for nine prizes in five categories.

The palatable creations were inspired by books and the end products were just as imaginative as their subject matter. "They don't have to be cakes; they can be anything edible," said Tina M. Kanagaratnam, CEO of AsiaMedia Ltd, which was in charge of promoting the event. The works could be based on any scenes, titles or characters as long as they came from books both classic and popular.

Among the creations was a gingerbread house which won the "People's Choice" award inspired by children's story Hansel and Gretel, a cake of the main character from the Australian children's classic The Magic Pudding, and a scene from Roald Dahl's classic James and the Giant Peach, where evil aunts Sponge and Spiker were crushed by the giant peach, which was covered in fuzzy peach candy.

The event was also open to children. "There is a special category just for kids, and kids can also win prizes in other categories," said organizer Prue Bansemer, who has organized the event for three consecutive years.

"I really like this event; it's like celebrating my favorite book. I think I will take part again next year," said Sasha Rich, a 10-year-old girl who made a cake of the cover of the best-selling children's book Savvy. "It's great they have the Books2eat festival where kids can use their creativity," said Sasha's mother, Eileen. The Rich family moved to Shanghai last August from their home state of Michigan in the US. "I am glad we entered this event, Shanghai is a fun city," Eileen said.

Judging the competition this year were, Dominique Harris from M Restaurant Group, Nick Malgieri, a world-renowned pastry chef, Nury Vittachi, a Hong Kong-based author who also judged the Hong Kong Books2eat competition and artist Christina Shmigel. While judges selected winners in four of the five categories, the people's choice category was chosen by popular vote. Categories focused on taste, creativity and presentation.

Shmigel competed in the first Books2eat event where she won a prize. "It is a very fun event where the whole family can participate," said Shmigel. Around 100 people attend the event every year, according to Bansemer.

Tao Yingqi was the only Chinese competitor this year. "It opened my eyes. Seeing all the creations. I am amazed by the creativity of the expat community," Tao said. Tao is a professional baker who came to Shanghai to visit a friend. After hearing about the event from a friend, Tao entered a cake based on the Harry Potter series. Tao won the second prize in the "Most Professional" category.

All the creations were consumed as afternoon tea by the guests who came after the panel of judges announced the winners.