Taste of Britain Curry Festival Takes Off!

Last night the Taste of Britain Festival took off in spectacular fashion as diners of Dhaka descended on the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel for a sample of the food that has captured the psyche and culture of 
the British public over the past 50 years.

Guests heard from guest speakers Ghulam Mohammed Quader, Honorable Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Special Guest Safique Alam Mehdi, Secretary Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism and HE Nick Lowe Acting British High Commissioner in Bangladesh who joined festival organisers Syed Belal Ahmed and Nahas Pasha of Curry Life Magazine and Ahmad Bukhari Hamzar, General Manager of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.

Virtues of the anglicised dish were extolled by speakers as guests heard that curry is not only responsible for contributing 4.2 billion to the British economy it also unites nations and possesses beneficial attributes hitherto unrecognised by the average Brit out on the town for an ‘Indian’.  “It would seem that curry has ingredients to spice up health, said Gen Manager. Madrasses and Vindaloos appealed to the taste of the more hot blooded males in the UK whereas women preferred the creamier kormas. Curry had not only become hugely profitable and popular, it had also helped to “cement the relationship between the two great countries of Bangladesh and Great Britain,” said Mr Hamzar.

Belal Ahmed, Festival Director described how Curry Life Magazine was promoting Bangladeshi cuisine and restaurants up and down the country, in the Middle East, India and Europe. “Different cultures, food and faiths have settled in Britain and made an exciting mix of multiculturalism,” he said, “We want to celebrate the success of the curry industry with the people of Bangladesh.”

For HE Nick Lowe, fresh to Bangladesh from the curry capital of Britain in Tower Hamlets, the evening brought on a touch of nostalgia for the vibrant curry houses of Brick Lane. “We couldn’t feel more at home than we do now,” he said. The cultural values – . He talked of the unique input of

The Chief Guest and minister for Civil Aviation and tourism – “somehow or other curry has won the hearts and the minds of the British people,” he said. “We must be proud of that and the fact that leadership has been given by the Bangladeshi community. Curry has become an asset for our culture because it brings investment to Bangladesh in hotels, motels, restaurant and tourism.”

Chefs Pintu Rozario, Amitaba Pal from Bangladesh and India joined the British Fusion chefs Partha Mittra, Shahidur Rahman and Abul Monsur on the stage before guests enjoyed a banquet of famous British/Bangladeshi dishes with kormas, baltis and vindaloos in abundance. But where was the chicken tikka masala? – anyone wanting  to taste the jewel in the crown of this peculiarly British incarnation of Bangladeshi  cuisine will have to wait until tonight when the famous dish will be served up in abundance in the Vithika restaurant .  Long live curry!