SPICE LODGE RESTAURANT WINS A PLACE IN FINAL OF THE TILDA TIFFIN!

12.54.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 26th Jun 2008

Martin with Mohammed Rahman, proprietor of Spice Lodge.

Festival of Curry at the House of Commons on Wednesday 09 July -

Spice Lodge in Cheltenham has been selected as one of the 10 finalists for the Tilda Tiffin Cup Festival of Curry at the House of Commons on Wednesday 09 July. Spice Lodge was nominated by local MP Martin Horwood.

Spice Lodge will attempt to 'curry favour' with the judges, including celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott and the Editor of Tandoori Magazine, Humayun Hussain.

Martin said: "I'm delighted that Spice Lodge has made it through to the final of the Tilda Tiffin Cup, the most prestigious award that has been given by the House of Commons to a South Asian restaurant. I will certainly be there on the 09 July and I am sure everyone in Cheltenham will be rooting for Spice Lodge."

Things will be hotting up more than usual at the House of Commons on Wednesday 09 July when the 10 finalists from around the country converge on Bellamy's restaurant for a curry 'cook-off'. They will have to wow a tough line-up of judges which include: celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott, Editor of Tandoori Magazine, Mr Humayun Hussain, Head Chef at Washington Mayfair Hotel in London, Mr Rajesh Rao, and owner of Madhu's in Southall Mr Sanjay Anand, if they want to walk away with the coveted Tilda Tiffin Restaurant of the Year trophy.

The competition was established in 2006 by MPs Michael Fabricant, John Barrett and Keith Vaz and is now in its third year. The Tilda Tiffin encourages the participation of as many constituencies as possible to celebrate the diversity of British culture and food. The money raised through ticket sales for the final 'cook off' will be donated to two very worthy charities.

Keith Vaz MP said: "Congratulations to Spice Lodge for making it to the final. They are clearly the best restaurant in the Region. I wish them the best of luck for the final."

Dilip Srinivasan from Tilda, which sponsors the event, says: "We are proud to be sponsoring The Tilda Tiffin as it is a wonderful opportunity for restaurants around the UK to showcase the best South Asian cooking the country has to offer. In the UK, an additional 1.5 million households have purchased Basmati rice in the last four years, fed by our love affair with Indian food. The final 'cook off' competition will be tough - may the best curry win!"

This year the competition will raise funds for Friends in Village Development Bangladesh, whose aim it is to contribute towards educational and socio-economic empowerment of disadvantaged people in rural Bangladesh, and also the breast cancer charity ROKO Cancer.

About Tilda Tiffin competition

The Tilda Tiffin competition to find the best South Asian Restaurant in Britain began two years ago. Local MP's are asked to vote for their favourite South Asian restaurant from within their constituency. These restaurants are then entered into a national competition and ten finalists are chosen to attend the national 'cook off' at the House of Commons. This year the judges will include: celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott, Editor of Tandoori Magazine, Mr Humayun Hussain, Head Chef at Washington Mayfair Hotel in London, Mr Rajesh Rao, and owner of Madhu's, in Southall Mr Sanjay Anand. The final 'cook off' will take place on Wednesday 9 July 2008.

The word Tiffin probably comes from Southern India and is the word that is mostly used to describe a light snack. In Mumbai, the tiffins are prepared for white collar Indian men by their wives after they have left for work, and forwarded to them by Dabbawalas (couriers) who use a suburban train network to get thousands of tiffin-boxes to their destinations. The snacks are packed in stainless steel or tin boxes with carry handles, also sometimes called tiffins or tiffin-boxes. A common approach is to put rice in one box, dal in another and further items in the third or fourth box.