THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The capital city will showcase one of the largest menu cards featuring 2,000 Kerala dishes as part of Keraleeyam 2023 to be held in Thiruvananthapuram from November 1 to 7. The food fair will be held from Manaveeyam Veedhi to East Fort under the leadership of 500 expert chefs at 11 venues.
Keraleeyam Food Mela will be the best food festival that Kerala has seen till date, said Food and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil. He was speaking at a press conference held at the Kanakakunnu Palace Hall in connection with the food festival, on Thursday.
More than 100 stalls that offer a variety of items from roadside eatery menu to five-star cuisine, will be set up as part of the food fair. Most of the stalls will be owned by small entrepreneurs who have tried different dishes and succeeded. Scheduled Tribe Development Department, Cooperation Department, Fisheries Department, Dairy Development Department, Kudumbashree etc will also be part of the food fair.
As many as 10 unique Kerala dishes such as Ramassery Idli, Vanasundari Chicken, Puttu-Kadala to Kuttanadan Pearlspot will be branded and showcased at the food mela. Each stall will also have a video showing the history and preparation of each dish.
Manaveeyam Veethi showcases traditional cuisines of Kerala from ‘Pazamkanji’ to dried fish dishes, while the stall at University College showcases ethnic dishes made of tubers.
The food festival, which will transform the road from University College to Vanross Junction into a food street, will be part of the nightlife for seven days.
Famous restaurants of the state will be part of the food fair. The food fair will also have a live food show by popular chefs on social media. Celebrity chefs such as Chef Pillai, Abida Rasheed, Feroze Chuttipara, Pazhayidam Mohanan Namboothiri and Kishore will present their cooking styles at Suryakanti from November 2 to 6. Famous food vloggers will be the brand ambassadors of the food fair.
Kerala food fair committee chairman A A Rahim, MP, Food Mela Committee convener Shikha Surendran and coordinator Sajith Nasser participated in the press conference.