Food festival blends Tamil flavours with French techniques in Chennai

CHENNAI: Puducherry is one of the best getaways for people from Chennai to enjoy with friends and family. While many talk about Rock Beach, the French Colony, and Auroville, have you ever considered the delicious food to be found there?

The Ministry of Chutneys at Radisson Blu Hotel & Suites GRT Chennai is hosting a food festival that combines Tamil cuisine with French and Portuguese techniques. “We first held this festival at our hotel in Puducherry, which received great appreciation, inspiring us to bring it to Chennai. Home chef Pushpa and her daughter Anitha are here to guide us through the intricacies of Franco-Tamil cuisine,” says executive chef Kishore.

Historically, Puducherry’s culture and cooking has influence from France, British and Portugal. “The original term of this cuisine is creole. Centuries ago, people from different countries settled in India’s Little France. The French could not bear the spice level of the South Indian cuisine. So, to match their palette, they toned down the spiciness by adding butter and cream. This paved the way for the birth of Vietnamese, French and Portuguese techniques with rich Tamil flavours,” he explains.

In simple terms, Franco-Tamil cuisine is the traditional flavours of Tamil Nadu prepared using French and Portuguese culinary techniques. However, it is on the verge of extinction. “One of the reasons behind this is because many are migrating to France and other places now. The cuisine exists here at the homes of a few families who prepare this routinely. It is crucial to shed light on this cuisine to expand its awareness. Meat, pork, beef, chicken and fish dominate the Franco Tamil cuisine. However, our food festival focuses on lamb, chicken and fish here,” shares the chef.

Back to the Franco-Tamil food festival in Chennai, the roasted pumpkin and coconut soup was creamy and well-balanced. The monsieur crevette Chettinadu has big-size juicy prawns coated with rustic Chettinadu spices. It is accompanied by a butter sauce, which elevates the taste. The spice level in mushroom pepper fry and the green chilly’s dominance in pachai milagai kozhi asadu impressed us and topped our list of favourites. The chicken was cooked to perfection.

In the main course, the kothamalli pudina chicken biryani didn’t have much of a coriander flavour. The chicken was also a bit tough. The stuffed snake gourd gravy went well with the coconut pilaf. The subtle sweetness and the sourness of blueberry in Pondicherry blueberry and coconut financier is a pleasant delight. The texture of ragi halwa was nice.

The Franco Tamil food festival is happening at the Ministry of Chutneys in Radisson Blu Hotel & Suites GRT Chennai till October 5.