British Fusion Food Festival begins today

The four-day festival will celebrate the success of the Bengali community in the curry industry in Britain.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will be present at the inaugural ceremony as the chief guest.

Curry Life Magazine and Dhaka Sheraton Hotel have jointly organised the festival sponsored by Channel S, Seamark, Red Ford, Nandan, Aerolex UK Ltd, Air Aliyyah, Partex Group, Bangla Beer and Al Islah Cash and Carry.

Four British Bangladeshi chefs selected through a competition will take part in the festival. They are Partha Mittra, executive chef of Bengal Dynasty at Flintshire, Jamal-Uddin Ahmed of Shozna Indian Cuisine, Rochester, Oli Khan of Surma Tandoori, Hertfordshire, and Syed Zohorul Islam of The Capital, County Durham.

The festival will help strengthen trade relationships between Britain and Bangladesh, said Festival Director Syed Belal Hossain at a press conference yesterday.

At present, about 1.5 lakh Bangladeshis working in 12,000 restaurants are directly involved in the curry industry in Britain. The British fusion food is very popular there and has changed the food habit of the British, he added.

Director (Sales and Marketing) of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel Mahfuzur Rahman, Chief Chef Greg Morgan, Chief Editor of Curry Life Magazine Syed Nahas Pasha and Food Hygiene Expert Shamsul Islam were also present at the press conference.

The festival will remain open from 7:00pm to 10:00pm daily until August 29. Entry fee is Tk 1600 per person.