Date:14/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/14/stories/2007081450730200.htm

Kerala

Wooing gourmets with food fetes

Hotels in the city are busy wooing gourmets with food. Many hotels such as the Taj Residency are organising food festivals. The ongoing Punjabi food festival at the Taj Residency has proved to be a big hit with the people here.

Chefs Thomas and Bijendra have been roped in to make the festival a success with mouth-watering fare such as daba gosht, fish Amritsari, sarson da saag, baingan ka bharta and maah ki dal. Stuffed parathas and makki di roti, rasmalai, phirni and choorma also figure on the menu.

Hotels are opting for food festivals as the 45-day ban on trawling has been lifted. “It has given a new lease of life to the hoteliers,” says K. Ranjith, food and beverages manager, Fortune Hotel. “We are organising a five-day seafood festival next week. Soups and desserts will also be served,” he says.

Executive Chef Babu Abdullah says the hotel will stick to original ingredients and recipes. “The seafood fare will be made in different styles,” he says.

She says the Punjabi tandoori cooking is one of the most popular cuisines in the world. Marinated meat, chicken, fish, paneer, roti and naan are cooked in huge earthen ovens.

Taj Residency organises a food festival every month. Its Chinese, Chettinad, Andhra and seafood festivals have many takers in the city.

The Fortune Hotel also comes up with promotions on a large-scale every two months.

“Our clientele is mostly students from the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode and the National Institute of Technology-Calicut. People love to experiment with food. The Thai food festival organised a few months ago was a great success,” Mr. Ranjith adds.

Biju Govind