In the sprawling heritage resort of the Bolgatty Palace Hotel, Kochi, in Kerala, chefs from 15 countries, with their ladles and spoons and pots and pans, stirred up a deluge of aromas and flavours, summoning a spice paradise befitting the occasion. The delicacies were ethnic, but they were all bound by the local spices of Kerala.
At the International Culinary Festival and Competition, held “under the auspices of reviving the Ancient Spice Route”, earlier this week, 34 chefs from South-East Asia, the Middle East and Europe diligently worked up their culinary magic for three-and-a-half hours, achieving tantalising results.
Chef Aisha al-Tamimi from Qatar was among the stars of the show, whipping up traditional Qatari dishes sprinkled with a liberal dash of spices from Kerala. Al-Tamimi, who discovered “plenty of similarities” between her ethnic Qatari food and Kerala’s traditional dishes, said: “That’s probably because most of our spices are imported from Kerala.” Al-Tamimi, who is referred to as the ‘Queen of Qatari Cuisine’ and her team also promoted the Qatari traditions and culture in the Ancient Spice Route Culinary Festival which was well received and greatly appreciated by all participants and embassy delegates.
While all the participating teams had to make the best use of spices, vegetables, meat and fish predominantly sourced from Ernakulum and Varapuzha markets, the chefs managed to stamp their signature touch to each of the dishes.
The worldwide competition driven by “a unique initiative to rekindle the rich legacy of trade and cultural exchange of the countries along the ancient spice route,” included a challenge between gourmet specialists from the Spice Route countries like Qatar, Italy, Portugal, Oman, Netherlands, France, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain, Egypt, Japan, Lebanon, Iran, Germany, and Turkey. Traditional fusion cuisines based on the spice theme was the highlight of the occasion.
The story of Qatar’s connection to the Spice Route is rather interesting. The walled coastal town of Al Zubarah flourished as a pearling and trading centre in the late 18th century and early 19th century, before it was destroyed in 1811 and abandoned in the early 1900s. Al Zubarah had trading links across the Indian Ocean, Arabia and Western Asia.
Recently, researchers from the University of Copenhagen, the University of Exeter in the UK and Qatar Museums said that they found 15 images depicting boats etched into plaster on the walls of the 250-year-old buildings at Al Zubarah, located at the northwest corner of the peninsula.
A year’s worth of study has led the experts to conclude this “graffiti” depicts large ocean-going vessels used for trade in the Gulf and Indian Ocean region. They include a European warship, a locally made fishing boat and trade dhows traditionally constructed on the Malabar Coast of India.
Historically, India is referred to as the world’s largest producer and largest consumer of spices, something that determined the economy of several countries across the world for centuries. While the later period (1400 CE onward) ‘Spice Route’ as known to Europeans has been researched and recorded well, much work is required in discovering and articulating the ancient routes of spices (dating back till three millennia) in the Indian subcontinent and Arab States that set a base for the later European incursions and sea routes. Much before the Europeans had mastered sea travel; it was the Arabs, Indians and Chinese merchants and traders, who sailed among the rich islands and contested these waters centuries ago in search of spices.
As for the South Indian state of Kerala, the legendary fame of Kerala’s spices dates back to many thousands of years into the past when the Malabar Coast had established itself as a major spice trade centre, as early as 3000BC. Across the Arabian Sea, the state had direct connection with all the major Red Sea ports and the Mediterranean ports as well as ports in the Far East.
Abitha John, Research Consultant-ITC-ILO/UNESCO-Italy, told Community, “Bearing in mind that that the Al Zubarah port of Qatar was an international trading point during the 18th century, the overall aim of this project is to revive the spice trade route in Qatar, through research and cultural exchange. The flavours in Qatari cuisine, which uses varieties of aromatic spices, is a clear indication of this cultural exchange.”
The recent archaeological discovery of the legendary ancient port of Muziris — the main centre of Spice Route that had disappeared since 1341 — has revealed the evidence of active exchange between Kerala and 31 countries across the globe from Far East to Europe, Africa and Arabian world.
UNESCO has signed a cooperation agreement with the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, to promote the intercultural dialogues between these countries through the revival of Ancient Spice Route thus reconnecting India with the world to mutually promote the history and heritage of Spice Route through joint research, heritage project and cultural activities.
Held under the patronages of the Spice Route project, this initiative of the culinary festival is a first-of-its-kind celebration of flavours and alliance that will see the participant countries experiencing Kerala’s cultural heritage and gastronomic offerings besides participating in culinary demonstrations and cooking discussions.
UNESCO says that it sees the historical trading relations with the rest of the world as a tremendous opportunity to build international cultural relations and an opportunity to expand global cultural relations following the ‘Spice Trade Route’ with some of the oldest and culturally rich countries of the world and focus on the promotion of cultural tourism.
The jury for the competition comprised Montu Saini, currently Executive Chef to the President of India, ITC Corporate Chef Vijay Nagpal, and Mahindra Resorts’ Executive Chef Debraj Bhaumik. As the curtains came down on the four-day Spice Route Culinary Festival, the French duo Didier Corlou and Le Minh Manh took home the prize for the best international chef team and were felicitated at a glittering valedictory ceremony. The Egyptian team of chefs Yasser Ramadan and Mariem Magdy were adjudged first runners-up with the team from Thailand, Chef Songpol Vithanwata and Chef Jareuk Sriaroon, rounding out the list of winners.