South American Food Safari at Nook, Aloft Bengaluru

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South America has been the the land of carnivals, adventure and music and great culture. the Colombian salsa , or the foot-stepping Brazilian Samba, the Argentinian tango, you cant miss the beat here. It is also a soccer frenzy continent with my loyalties remain with Argentina since the Maradona days.

(Sea Food Treasure :Photo taken at South American Food Safari, Nook, Aloft Bengaluru)

With such diverse culture , it remains the melting pot of food ,with significant influences of the native americans and the Europeans particularly from Spain, Portugal and Italy.The Latin american cuisine is getting popular these days across continents and I was fortunate to be invited to perhaps first ever “South American Food Safari ” at Aloft, Cessna Business Park, Bangalore.

The man behind this festival, Chef Sandeep Kumar , has nearly 15 years of diverse culinary background. He specializes in European and world cuisine. He joined Aloft Bengaluru in 2015, having been part of the Starwood family since 2010.Though I have never tried this cuisine before, I am sure the global culinary expertise of the Chef Sandeep ,would have made it as authentic as possible.

Appetizer

The Chicken empanadas , the chicken stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Spain and Latin America , Fried oyster with mix green avocado salsa sour cream, the oyster meat fritters coated in tempura batter and Sprouted ground nuts with cilantro and heirloom tomato, perhaps the Latino version of very own chakhna.

Salad

The Grilled arepas with aroma tomato and micro greens, Arepas, I was told, is a staple food in Colombia and Venezuela.Made of ground maize dough or cooked flour it can be served with accompaniments such as cheese, avocado, and to make even the sandwiches.

Entree

Among the entrees ,the Olive oil and habanero chili tosses mussels clams with fennel cream butter, lovely flavorful and rightly cooked mussels.I had loads of them during the fest and Baked Homemade nachos chips with manchego cheese avocado, tomato dip.I am not a big fan of Nachos but I must admit these tasted delicious with the cheese from the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of manchega breed sheep.

Main Course

The Argentinian Asado marinated lamb chops and prawns chimichurri ,the Argentinian style barbecued lamb chops with chimichurri, the uncooked green marinade sauce with likely ingredients like cilantro, parsley, and oregano.

Desserts

Heavenly is the adjective I would use to describe the Tres leches here .It was perhaps the best I had in recent times ,Sopapilla cheesecake was good but however I am not a big fan of the Cinnamon and chocolate fudge

(From Lto R, Tres leches,Sopapilla cheesecake &Cinnamon and chocolate fudge)

The festival is on till 25th January,2017 at the Nook, Aloft Cessana Business Park, Bengaluru. It is must try for all you food lovers.

Cessna Business Park, Sarjapur – Marathahalli Outer Ring Road, Kadubeesanahalli, Bellandur Post, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560103, India

Phone: 080 4510 1010