The Tossed Salad

Complete with vibes of Samba and an authentic Spanish layout, AISSMS (All India Shri Shivaji Memorial Society) organized a wonderful Spanish food festival last month. The decor as well as the costumes of the hosts were true to the Spanish theme. The gentlemen hosts were clad in Matador costumes and the pretty ladies were dressed like beautiful Spanish country women out to crush grapes. Tempting scene isn’t it? This was just a ‘starter’, the main course was actually the Spanish food.

Right after making an entry inside the huge venue, one couldn’t resist from tasting a free sample of ‘Four Seasons’ wine. The event kicked off with a short speech delivered by Señor Erik Rovina, economic and commercial counselor of the consulate of Spain in Pune, who was the chief guest for the event. He mentioned in his speech that his favorite dish was ‘paella‘, an internationally famous preparation based on rice. “All the Spanish expatriates miss the dish”, he said.

Following the speech, there was a major rush towards the food stalls. The food ranged from starters, main course to deserts. There was the famous Flan Spanish custard, hitherto unknown to most of us Indians; Pollo Al Ajillo – chicken prepared in garlic sauce; fish in oyster sauce; cakes such as crème catalana, Breze de Gitano (fresh food roulade); Lecha frita (fried egg custade); a blend of vegetable dishes such as Ensalada con sesta el horno (mushroom salad), Pan Con sesame yan (veg bread); and soups such as Crema de Azafran (saffron soup).

One of the amazing things was that the mention of ‘The Tossed Salad’ aroused a lot of interest. Some students actually gathered around me and one of them said, “the food festival has been an enriching experience allowing us to appreciate the Spanish culture, their way of living and being hospitable.”

The food fest was an undeniable success. Hats off to the students for providing such a wide variety of alimento español. Señor Erik Rovina was full of praise for the organizing committee. One just hopes that they will organize another fest soon. Till then, adiós y véale pronto (good bye and see you next time around)!

Ashish Padaruth

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Author: Ashish Padaruth
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