Duke Orsino in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night sought an excess of music to cure his obsession for love, with
his line “If music be the food of love, play on”
But through centuries, music has only sustained romance. But so
has food. And it is this jugalbandi, which will be on stage at the Mahindra
Open drive destination festival starting Friday.
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In a tryst to achieve the same, Mahindra Open Drive roped in an
expert to curate the food zone at the festival, Nolan Mascarenhas, writer,
blogger, and culinary experience curator.
“The brief given to me was simple. Bring out the true essence of
Goa and India on a plate. We all know Goa is one of the hottest tourist and
culinary destinations in the country. A place that is culturally rich and
accomodative, hence it could not only focus on one cuisine. We imbibed a
culinary tapestry, encapsulating the length and breadth of the regions in
India”, he said
Goa these days caters to a global palate, keeping that in mind
it was important to bring about a sense of integrative resonance between
flavours and textures. After months of hardwork and countless meetings and
trials, we have six stalls that represent the new age heritage of Goa”,
explains Nolan
The food stalls truly showcase a new take on integration, which
not just underlies the Goan heritage theme rather the intrinsic Culinary Fabric
of ‘Adaptive Goa’- has procured from other cuisines and cultures over a period
of time.
Anisha Hassan from Saligao Stories brings to the fore, forgotten
grandmother’s Hyderabadi recipes, while Prakyath Bharath of Moki Bar &
Restaurant puts a modern spin on Global inspired cuisine with a Goan twist.
Zubin Vazifdar adds a touch of some Zorastrian delicacies from
Zuperb PopUp & Catering whereas Sunita Rodrigues of Picante dishes out some
true blue Goan bites- that we all know and love.
Saurav Parashar and Monalisa Baruah of SoulChef Goa spice it up
with flavours of Assam that will leave people wanting for more. Lest we forget,
sign off with Kunal Arolkar’s (FoodyBreaks) sweet desserts to the firey rescue.
To showcase Goa’s heritage in terms of alcohol, what better than Feni- Goa’s
pride and GI indicative spirit. We have curated Cocktails by Mac & Cedric
Vaz of Madame Rosa, who will be there to sip the days away. The teetotalers
will not be left out as we have a freshly squeezed Orange juice stall in the
mix as well.
“It’s
been a great experience curating these stalls with some of Goa’s stalwarts and
trailblazers. We have tried to bring about a different aspect to the whole
‘culinary culture’ of Goa. The festival is over two days and these carefully
curated stalls will offer people the opportunity to try and sample the
delicacies from each cuisine. Think of it as one big gourmet party!!” concludes
Nolan
