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| H.E. Bernd Muetzelburg |
The FIFA World Cup 2006 has provided Germany a grand opportunity to come closer to the world and the Germany Embassy in India is sparing no effort to cash in on the soccer fever sweeping the country. On the opening night of what is being hailed as the grandest sports spectacle of this planet, the embassy teamed up with ESPN Star Sports and Hyatt Regency to treat Delhi's soccer fanatics to a feast of fashion, food and football. It's now the turn of CMA, the Central Marketing Organisation of German agricultural industries, to keep the excitement alive with a month-long celebration of German food and drink, The Taste of Germany, at nine Taj properties across the country.
In his characteristic style, the German Ambassador, Bernd Muetzelburg, who finds himself in the thick of activities even though he has just taken charge of the embassy in India after serving as ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's national security adviser, used an appropriate German saying to explain the link between food and diplomacy. The way to a man's heart, the saying goes, is through the stomach. That holds true for nations too, Muetzelburg declared at the inauguration of The Taste of Germany at The Ambassador Hotel in New Delhi.
The Ambassador Hotel's staff, led by F&B Manager Rajiv Mahajan and Executive Chef Ramit Wason (who's moving to Taj Banjara, Hyderabad), pulled out all the stops to make it a truly German evening. What was more heartening was that the representatives of other hotels - Neeta Nagaraj and Zach of the Jaypee Group, Mohit Sharma and Amit Gupta of The Park, and Vishal Kapoor of The Grand - joined their Taj friends, notably Thomas Abraham and Ashwani Anand of Taj Palace and B. C. Kumar of Taj Krishna, to toast Germany's food tradition.
 Taj's Area Director, New Delhi, Yannick Poupon was, as usual, at his immaculate best. Besides The Ambassador, the Taj properties participating in The Taste of Germany fest, which is on till July 9, include Taj President (Mumbai), Taj Blue Diamond (Pune), Taj Bengal (Kolkata), Taj Residency (Bangalore), Taj Connemara (Chennai), Taj Banjara (Hyderabad), Taj Chandigarh and Fort Aguada Beach Resort and Taj Exotica (Goa).
These hotels will host five German chefs - Michael Sopper, who's as comfortable with healthy desserts like Muesli Souffle as with Cheese Spatzle and Onion Cake; World Barbecue Champion 2005 Thomas Kargoscha-Volle; smoked fish specialist Gerd Noppel; Master Confectioner Lothar Buss; and baker-confectioner Wolfgang Altenburger.
Ambassador Muetzelburg pointed to the momentum Indo-German friendship had gained because of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent interactions with Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and India being the 'partner country' at this year's Hanover Fair and Berlin Biennale. He then reminded the guests that India was the 'theme country' at October's Frankfurt Book Fair, the publishing industry's biggest global trade event.
Speaking on CMA's behalf, Chris Pohl, a major German importer living in Bangalore, said it was his mission to change the impression that his country is good for just beer and sausages, and to increase the food and beverage imports from Germany into India from the present level of 8 million euros. CMA's India Representative Aruna Rangachar Pohl, from the Centre for Research and Applied Food Technology, said later that the organisation had planned to focus on India till 2008. The food items on display at the event gave us an idea of the German products we are likely to see in our malls in the foreseeable future. They extended from PEMA whole grain breads and InterSnack potato crisps to Krombacher beer and the aniseed liqueur Underberg.
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| Mr. Chris Pohl |
The Ambassador said the CMA was a model organisation for India to study closely so that the benefits of development can extend from 300 million to 800 million people. Food, in other words, is not just about fun; it's also about the development of the masses who live off agriculture. Going back to German food, the country has an amazing diversity to offer. As Roz Denny, the popular food writer, says: "This wonderful diversity is not the result of manufacturers dreaming up new products, but because the various regions of Germany have preserved their specialities, many of which are centuries old."
In the next few weeks, Taj and the visiting chefs will showcase this culinary smorgasbord to celebrate the authentic German experience. There's more to German cuisine, after all, than beer and sausages. |
