The 2nd Edition of Gourmet Getaway in Jaipur
The best way to explore various cultures is through their food. It gives you a fair amount of idea about their history, lifestyle and preferences. Gourmet Getaway, Jaipur's very own international food festival, curated by Dushyant Singh provided a lovely window to the ever changing landscape of world cuisine within a span of a weekend. This was the second edition of the festival that saw some of the most renowned chefs, food experts, writers and historians come together to celebrate their love for food with the visitors. A host of activities were put together to encourage a dialogue about food while exploring the best of Jaipur. Here's want went down over the two days of the Gourmet Getaway:
Day 1 started with a morning tour of the city with CyclinJaipur. I was delighted to discover that I hadn't forgotten to ride a bicycle and managed to get through the entire 2 hour tour without hurting myself! Some of the highlights included local kachoris and chai, a stunning view of the Hawa Mahal from a secret cafe, and clicking pictures of the birds outside Albert Hall Museum. During brunch time, we had a fun Pizza Masterclass with the very talented Chef Antonio Scirocco at Dushyant's very own restaurant On The House, OTH as the locals call it. I will try and do a separate post on OTH because I have a lot of nice things to say about their food!
Next up was the Wine and Chocolate tasting with Chef Barbara at the gorgeous Meraaki Kitchen. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and just the perfect setting to enjoy some great wine- we learnt a few quick basics of tasting a wine correctly and also see how a single wine can taste differently with various chocolates. In the evening, we proceeded to Nand Mahal, the stunning venue for the much awaited Gourmet Getaway sundowner. It was like a dream: world-renowned chefs from all over the world had live counters serving amazing food, and there was some great wine + music to go with it. I had the time of my life!
Day 2 started with an enlightening discussion by food experts and chefs at Fairmont Hotel, on the importance of Indian culinary history in modern times. The stress was mainly on how experimentation with food shouldn't come at the cost of authenticity, along with Chef Manjit Gill throwing light on the science behind Indian cooking techniques. For someone who always tasted and wrote about food from a very layman perspective, it was an eye-opener: there's a lot to learn!
Gourmet Getaway was so much more than a food festival, as it offered not just great food but also made me meet some amazing people and discover some lovely insights on both Indian and world cuisine. It was an experience that left me enriched, and I honestly cannot wait for the next edition.
For more details, visit http://www.gourmetgetaway.in/ .
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