An apricot and nectarine chaat with anardana chutney, drizzled with Greek extra-virgin olive oil and German honey, set the tone for Shared Tables, Shared Stories – an afternoon celebrating the coming together of European ingredients and Indian flavours.
Event Highlights: European Union's More Than Food Campaign
Hosted as part of the European Union’s More Than Food campaign, the afternoon was about shared love for food between India and the 27 EU member states. It featured the launch of A Taste Of Home With EU Tadka, a cookbook celebrating the reinterpretation of familiar Indian flavours using European ingredients. Alongside, a storytelling-led gastronomic experience, curated by campaign ambassadors Chef Ajay Chopra and Chef Guntas Sethi, was served.
Signature Dishes and Ingredients
The spread included dishes like a pan-seared potato terrine with tomato salsa vierge prepared with European ingredients, such as Italian Toscano produce, Danish butter and French shallots. Chef Ajay Chopra prepared the apricot and nectarine chaat, while Chef Guntas Sethi created a chikki fudge cake using dark chocolate from Belgium, whipping cream from France and butter from Denmark.
Chefs and Contributors
The event brought together foodies and chefs, including Rakhee Vaswani and Sougata Ghosh, who have also contributed to the cookbook. The experience allowed guests to relish EU products across dairy, meat, olive oil, honey and fresh produce, labelled as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).
Chef Ajay Chopra on Ingredients
“I was nostalgic entering the kitchen where I started my culinary journey 23 years ago,” said Ajay, before he began talking about the importance of quality ingredients. He added, “Great restaurants are where a chef spends close to 30 per cent of his time just checking his produce because that’s the basis of everything and anything they cook. With ingredients come along stories, culture, heritage, technology, and the sustainability quotient. There’s so much more than just an ingredient presented to you. Like the EU, we need to start taking a lot of pride in our food because that actually has a lot of authenticity and value attached to it.”
Chef Guntas Sethi on Flavor Innovation
Inspired by childhood memories, Guntas made chikki fudge cake. Elaborating on the eclectic mix, Guntas said, “Ingredients can change how you imagine flavour. Through this event, we celebrated the shared language of food by bringing together European ingredients and Indian culinary creativity in an accessible and relatable way.”
