Sharjah: Leading chefs will be presenting some of their favourite dishes and recipes to visitors of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), beginning on April 19 at Expo Centre Sharjah.

The recipes will form part of the Cookery Corner, where SCRF will organise a cooking competition for children and youth aged 11 to 17 years, to help them discover and develop their skills and encourage them to prepare healthy homemade meals.

The competition also aims to teach children safe practices when using different implements, such as knives and hot pans and how to avoid other kitchen hazards.

The 11-day SCRF 2017 — the ninth edition of the festival — incorporates three aspects: live cooking demonstrations, cooking competitions, and ‘Little Chef’ in a fun-themed atmosphere to encourage children to participate in the cooking contest.

SCRF 2017 will host a selection of popular chefs, including Jordan’s Deema Hajjawi, Indian master chef Pankaj Bhadouria, British chefs Will Torrent and Nick Bernard, Moroccan chefs Amy Riolo and Halima Bu Bakri, and Swedish chef Nina Olsen.

Young chefs will be treated to a collection of exciting and entertaining programmes, such as the ‘Young Innovators’ contest, where they will demonstrate their creative skills in preparing burgers with a competitive edge. The children will also get the opportunity to engage in a series of distinctive cooking workshops, where they can learn and show off their nutritional knowledge and food-making skills.

Activities on the agenda include ‘My Little Kitchen’ and other workshops, including ‘My Vegetables and Fruit’, designed to teach children how to carve and decorate the staple ingredients of any diet.

SCRF also offers a platform for publishers to display their publications and features a programme of entertainment and educational activities that utilise modern technology with visual arts.