This festival organised by IFEA and SNS Cooking Club was hosted by Grand Mercure
GIFT City. The hotel was an ideal venue for the festival as it has elements of Gujarati
interiors like jhoolas and colourful panels, and also a Gujarati specialty restaurant
named SAMAROH.
The aim of the festival was to highlight the handicrafts and heritage sites of Gandhinagar
district.
The festival was inaugurated by Harsh Sanghavi, Gujarat’s Home Minister.
Ashawali weaving of Ridrol, the wooden block making art of Pethapur and the kalamkari art
of the Chitaras were the highlights of the festival. An exhibition of water colour prints and
photographs showcasing stepwells and other heritage sites by The Heritage Art decorated
the venue.
Students of Jamnabai Narsee School came to see the exhibition and also learnt interesting facts
about food and farming from IFEA members like Pratik Ghoda of Bee Base who introduced them to
the agri-honey, Girish Patel of Sarthak Satvik who spoke about A2 milk and bilona ghee, and the
teams from Gulab Oils and Olixir Oils who introduced them to cold-pressed oils.
Aayna Cookery Club organised workshops of Bengali sweets and Mediterranean cuisine by the
Grand Mercure’s chefs on the first day. More than 100 women attended the workshops.
The bakery workshop was conducted by Kook With Kaninika, Gandhinagar on the second day.
Another highlight of the festival was the Biryani Competition sponsored by Manpras Spices. The
contestants presented a variety of biryanis from traditional Hyderabadi, Awadhi, Kolkata
, Bohri and Memoni to fusion versions.
The competition was judged by Chef Rajesh Ojha and culinary expert Heena Gautam.
The concept by Anil Mulchandani and execution by Manisha Gupta ensured a well
planned event.
As part of the festival, Grand Mercure had daily thalis of vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisines of
Gujarat by home chefs Divya Thakker, Sandhya Shah and Huzefa Topiwala at Sangam, their all-day
dining restaurant.
