As Food fests become lucrative (and almost like fashion shows), experts say that the focus should be on innovation and creativity in food preparation (for it to be called a food festival), and not just on the business aspect.
With high disposable incomes and outbound tourism flourishing, the demand for exquisite gastronomy experiences has increased. Food festivals, food shows and expos, are one medium to explore the same, where chefs from different backgrounds come together; which enables the propagation of new ideas, culinary thoughts and also identifies possible future trends.
No wonder, cooking demos and fests today are like fashion shows, it brings in a lot of excitement among the audience.
Food festivals are an opportunity for food lovers to meet chefs from various restaurants and experiment with different cuisines. Food can be appreciated by the aroma, taste, feel (palate texture), visual, sound (fish frying). All the senses are utilised to make food a super art form during food fests.
Almost everybody is jumping into the ‘food’ wagon as it turns lucrative. However, the whole world is catering to the youth of today, and they don’t know much about what is good or bad when it comes to food. For most of them, its all about having a good time – which means good music, good company, good atmosphere, beer and booze.
So knowledge about traditional, regional food is very less.
That is why food festivals try to focus on preserving the heritage of the local cuisine. For example, North Indian Food Festivals highlight cuisines like ‘Litti Chokha’ and ‘Nimona ki Sabji’ of the region among the members. The focus is on providing basic popular dishes as well as innovative items from various regions. However, Food festivals also have modern cuisine in addition to traditional dishes.
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“Tea from Assam, rice from Punjab, spices from South India, sweets from the North…There was wine from France, Italy, South Africa, even Argentina and Israel.”
We had sushi being sold on a conveyor belt, like Yo Sushi! People tasted it and liked it and realised Japanese food is not just about raw fish. And for the first time visitors could buy Wasabi oil!
“I agree there are many food fests happening these days, some good, some mediocre. While the spotlight is on food and should be, it does get diluted due to commercial pressures and the tendency is to mix food stalls with artifacts and even fashion stalls,” said Farzana Contractor, Publisher and Editor of UpperCrust food magazine.
“What a food festival should focus on depends solely on the promoter. There are many event companies who run the food festivals on a business/commercial basis. However, I am of the opinion that innovation and creativity in food preparations has to be the focus, if one wants to call it a ‘food’ festival. Otherwise it becomes just a ‘festival’,” said Goa-based author and noted food critic Odette Mascarenhas.
Food innovations seen in recent times include DNA diets (diet that’s best suited to your genetic make-up) and sugar reduction technology (for obvious health benefits), as people become more aware about their health.
