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During long summer days, some culinary delights are always welcome. Well, taking a cue, JW Marriott Chandigarh explores the diversity in cuisines, flavours along the ancient highway from Kabul to Kolkata.

The Grand Trunk Road Food Festival at Saffron brings to you a culinary journey passing through the rocky mountains of Afghanistan and culminating at the awe-inspiring ghats of the Ganges in Bengal.

The nine day food festival aims at offering a kaleidoscope of flavours and authentic dishes from the gastronomic capitals of Kabul, Peshawar, Lahore, Amritsar, Lucknow and Kolkata.

“Our team of Chefs has gone the extra mile to recreate magic and nostalgia that the Sadak-e-Azam has left us behind to discover. Hence, we have crafted a menu as diverse as the traditions of the cities through which this road passes. From Kabul’s barbecued temptations to the sumptuous secrets of the imperial Dastarkhans of Delhi and Agra, from the succulent Awadhi kebabs to the irresistible sweets of Bengal, the GT Road Food Festival is all set to serve a slice of history to its patrons,” said Naveen Handa, Executive Chef, JW Marriott Chandigarh.

The menu is available in three variants, namely vegetarian, non- vegetarian and sea-food priced from Rs 1450 to Rs 1875 plus taxes for a meal for two. —TNS

The nine day food festival is on from June 17 to June 25 at Saffron, JW Marriott—35, Chandigarh.

Did you know?

The famous Amritsari Machchi (fried fish), for instance, originated in the Mughals’ kitchen where bawarchis, under the influence of Awadh cooks, started marinating the fish served to royal families. The recipe then travelled via GT Road to Punjab, where similar experiments were done on rohu, a large, silver-coloured freshwater fish, and came to be known as Lahori Fish.
Places like Peshawar and Amritsar on GT Road not only emerged as important centres of trade, but also served as brief stopovers or transit camps for merchant travellers before they proceeded with their onward journey. Many travellers would often come up with their own versions of authentic dishes using native ingredients after returning home. Kolkata biryani is one such recipe which was greatly influenced by the Awadhi biryani.
The sanjha chulha or common community kitchen with a clay oven (tandoor) in the centre was a blessing for immigrants. It was because of these chulhas that the tandoori style of cooking emerged along this highway. The GT Road Food Festival features many such roasted tributes, some of which are the Pashtuni-style murg tikka, sofiyani tikka and Awadhi sunahari mahi tikka.