The Press Club hall here hosted an exhibition of German dishes that titillated many a palate on Monday. The food exhibition marked the finale of a German language festival named ‘Karneval 2022’ organised by Madin Academy.
The German Language Day celebrations organised under the banner of Madin Deutschinstitut began on Saturday and culminated with the German food fest. “Food of a country offers a distinct culture, and it offers a wonderful means to learn the language of that culture as well,” said Madin Academy chairman Syed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari while inaugurating Karneval 2022.
Students of Madin Deutschinstitut prepared a smorgasbord of German dishes, offering a jaw-dropping experience for many visitors. For many of them, it was their first date with a German dish. “I can’t even read the name of the dish written in German,” said journalist Nisar V.P., savouring a piece of sausage from a plate of ‘currywurst’, one of the most popular German dishes.
He was not the only one to have got confuzzled by the large variety of rich, hearty and deliciously exotic dishes. There were 45 items on display at the fest. Unlike the dishes on display for competitions during the State School Science Fair, the German dishes were made in good quantity. Many could taste from a single item.
If currywurst was on display as an icon of German popular culture, the mouth-watering ‘beef rouladen’ carried the pride of German culinary tradition. “There has been so much demand for beef rouladen,” said Ashique Sulaiman, who led the six-member team who worked non-stop for two days to present a new world of German cuisine.
“We had two more dishes on our menu, but we did not get time to prepare them,” said Mr. Ashique, explaining each exotic item. He added that if currywurst could be described as Germans’ staple food, rouladen could be their traditional pride featuring long, thin strips of meat slathered with mustard and filled with onion and pickles. But pork had no role in the Madin fest.
Mr. Ashique said out of the 45 items, a dozen-odd dishes were hugely popular in German culture. From creamy salmon dish to chocolate brownie items, the Deutsches Essensfest (meaning German food fest) was appealing to the eye, nose and palate alike.
Inaugurating the Deutsches Essensfest, Mr. Syed Bukhari tasted a piece of brownie and called it fabulous.
“Definitely good food is one of the best means to open up a good conversation. I am happy our students are doing creatively to promote German language,” said Mr. Syed Bukhari.
Mr. Ashique and his team had to buy online many ingredients needed for making German dishes. “We procured several items from LuLu Mall in Kochi, and many others had to be bought online,” he said. They spent over ₹20,000 for the ingredients alone.
Ishaq Thamarassery, director of Madin Deutschinstitut, delivered the keynote address. Press Club president Vimal Kottakkal, general secretary C.R. Rajeev, Madin Academy director Noufal Kodur, Madin International Affairs coordinator Umer Melmuri, German teachers Salmanul Fayiz Adany and Abdul Hakeem Adany, and Misbahul Huda Kulliyya general secretary Syed Ahmed Kabeer Al Bukhari spoke.
