SRINAGAR: Under the shade of mighty Chinars, trying some mouth-watering wazwan with a soft gentle breeze caressing the shoulders is everyone’s dream.
For G20 delegates, the gala dinner will have a slice of everything. From Kashmir’s mouth-watering wazwan to Jammu’s famous Rajma, and from pandit cuisine to gucchi pulaw, J&K’s culinary heritage will be the showstopper.
Curating the gala dinner is celebrity Chef Sanjay Raina. Chef Raina is using the culinary route to showcase J&K’s culinary heritage and bring people closer.
“From times immemorial, food has been a great leveler. Since there are international guests, the gala dinner is one step to showcasing our Kashmir cuisine at a global platform,” Chef Raina told The Kashmir Monitor.
Wazwan is a multi-course mutton cuisine. The cuisine ranges from seven to 25 mutton dishes with `ferni’ as dessert. Culinary experts count Kashmiri Wazwan among the ‘top three exotic foods’ of India. Likewise, Kashmiri pandit cuisine has remained unexplored. Pandit Rogan Josh is something that everyone loves to relish.
“There will be great spread from Wazwan and equally great spread from pandit cuisine. Along with two cuisines, there will be some delectables like gucchi pulaw, etc. Cuisine cuts across communities. Today’s menu is an example of fabric that we belong to,” said Chef Raina.
The three-day G20 Tourism Working Group meeting kicked off at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Center (SKICC) on Monday. The first Working Group meeting was held in February at Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. The second meeting was held from April 1 to 3 in Siliguri, West Bengal.
G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
“Food binds people together. If friends eat good food they would love it. Even if people do not agree on many things but have good food, they would not shy away from accepting that food was good. That is the power of food. My passion has been to promote Kashmir and Kashmiri cuisine. I would love to do this all over the world. Let us call it food diplomacy. This forum gives us the opportunity for food exchange between G20 countries,” Chef Raina said.
