KOCHI: Harking back to journeys of yore, travellers from 15 countries along the historic Spice Route will call into the port here on a voyage that seeks to rekindle a shared legacy of culinary distinction, commerce, connectivity and cultural exchange.
The Spice Route Culinary Festival, a first-of-its-kind celebration of the fiery flavours found along the over 2,000-year-old maritime trade-way, will commence on Friday.
“Organised by the Tourism Department in association with the UNESCO and the the Union Tourism Ministry, the festival will run until Monday at Bolgatty Palace & Island Resort here,” stated an official release. On the first day, prominent chefs from Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, Oman, Turkey, Qatar, the Netherlands, France, Malaysia, Italy and Japan will sample the cultural and culinary offerings of ‘God’s Own Country,’ take in a demonstration on traditional Kerala cooking, and participate in an interactive session.
On the second day, they will visit and procure local ingredients from the market, before tabling the choicest cuisines from their homelands for the festival’s centrepiece - the international cooking competition. The list of luminaries will also feature diplomats, embassy representatives and eminent delegates from the participating countries, besides officials of the UNESCO.
Ambassador of the Netherlands to India H E Alphonsus Stoelinga; Shigeru Aoyagi, UNESCOS-New Delhi director, and representative to Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives; various Consul Generals; and other high-ranking officials will also attend.
“We are very proud to host such a unique initiative that will honour the enduring bonds created by the ancient Spice Route and highlight Kerala’s legacy as a hotspot for tourism and trade,” said Minister for Tourism A C Moideen.
The gastronomic extravaganza will also showcase the best culinary fare and talent from across the State as identified through a just-concluded regional competition organised by the Kerala Tourism for local chefs. Since getting underway on Monday, qualifiers of the ‘Kerala Chef’ competition saw crowds throng the venues in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram and at Kalamassery.