This new food festival in town promises to be an authentic gourmet journey into Calabria. Priyanjali Ghose tasted the menu and vouches it is so much more...

This new food festival in town promises to be an authentic gourmet journey into Calabria. Priyanjali Ghose tasted the menu and vouches it is so much more...

The humble Brinjal, call it by any name you want be it the eggplant, the aubergine or whatever else, is often considered a big gourmet no-no thanks to the myth of flatulence.

Yet, culture after culture has glorified the presence of this 'meaty' vegetable in their cuisine time and again. Be it the Mughals who called it 'The Royal Vegetable' or the Calabrians, who loved it enough to evolve quite eccentric dishes in honour of it the vegetable has come through history as a winner.

As a Bengali myself, my palate has been bored to death with the baigun bhaja as a daily staple, but I still relish the thought of digging into a plate of lucchi and baigun at any given time.

That apart, this new festival surely surprised me when I for the first time, saw the excessive use of my favourite vegetable in Italian cuisine.

Olive Beach as a part of Piccante, their Calabrian Food Festival, introduced me to nonne involtini di melanzane con la pasta, mozzarella e pomodoro (quite a mouthful no!) or for us simpletons, granny's traditional eggplant rolls filled with pasta, mozzarella, and tomato sauce. This dish, a part of the Antipasti menu reminded me of a spring roll and a particularly fine one at that.

I was also quite intrigued with a Dolci special (dessert), called melanzane al cioccolato, which is, believe it or not, eggplant layered and filled with ricotta, candied orange and chocolate. I might sound like a total villager here, when I say it tasted like a peda, but well, it did!

I also however noticed a melanzana alla parmigiana, a classic eggplant and parmesan cheese dish that was a part of the Primi Piatti menu.

Brinjals or eggplant apart, I also enjoyed some other extremely eccentric dishes that beamed of an active imagination.

I particularly enjoyed the crispy fritelle di flori di zucchini or zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta, which was a part of the Antipasti menu and the pesce al cartoccio, John Dory filets cooked in parchment with tomato, capers, lemon, thyme, olives and extra virgin olive oil.

The most interesting was however the fritto calamari e gamberi, fried calamari and prawns with capers, olivers and artichokes, sprinkled with chilli and lemon that seemed strangely familiar, almost like comfort food.

While crostinis may be famous world wide as the perfect bite-sized Antipasti, the crostini con salsiccia piccante e pepperoni al forno, a thick crusty bread slice, topped wit spicy pepperoni sausage, roasted bell peppers, tomatoes and goat cheese, drizzled liberally with olive oil, was boring and didn't seem very different from a regular pizza.

The food was relatively light, but the sheer quantity to choose from, leaves one with too many options to stuff oneself pretty.

I ended up doing just that, but believe me, it was one sure happy and blissful experience. The best thing to drink with the whole meal is a sparkling glass of wine of your choice, but then again being Italian food, a hot cuppa coffee also seemed like a good option, especially when it's served with a delicious piece of bitter-sweet chocolate. Rich and fulfilling indeed.

At the end of this six course meal, that included Antipasti, Zuppa (Soups), Primi Piatti (Pizza and Paste and Risotti), La Carne (Meat), Il Pesce (Fish) and Dolci (Dessert), I was satiated and afraid I might just burst. So here's my warning to the food-lover eat light and relish every bite. Each dish is a revelation on its own and echoes with the tastes and culture of Calabria. Try anything, experiment if you please, 'cause I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

As told to L Romal M Singh

At Olive Beach, Wood Street
On from January 25 to 31u00a0
7 pm onwards Meal for two 2,000
Call 4112 8400