Inspired by Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay’s Chander Pahar, Dr. Kalyan Kar decided to not just travel to Africa several times, but visit it so often that he wanted to carry its flavours to his home-city - Kolkata. Opening the Flavours of Africa, near Bypass Kolkata, was a unique window to familiarise the people of Kolkata to the cuisine of Africa. And in the process of doing so, breaking several myths about the same.
Interestingly, even while speaking about the cuisine he highlighted how every region has very different types of food, all of which was not possible to add on to the menu. And hence, Chef Rosy, who flew in specially from Ghana would be introducing the people of Calcutta to native African cuisine throughout this month. Without fail, we went over to taste the uniqueness of the flavour.
We began the meal by sipping Pink Lemonade that not only quenched our thirst but also renewed our energy in this heat. What intrigued us was that the lemonade was very mild compared to the extreme fizz of other lemonades and this is what made this drink stand apart. The mild tang also complemented the overall taste.
Up next, was Scotch eggs, or Mayai wa Scotch from Nigeria for starters. Boiled eggs layered with keema and deep fried to form a crispy crust was a good snack to begin with. It was followed by Spicy Fish. Marinated Betki pieces rubbed in a variety of spice made this a very apt starter for fish-loving Bengalis. In fact, the marinade, though spicy did not have much heat and burst of freshness which enhanced its flavours.
Chef Rosy mentions, “ We have so many different kinds of food in Ghana like Jollof Rice, Fried Rice, Banku, Gouache, FuFu and more. In Africa we don't eat too much spice because it is not good for health. We do use spices, but not too much. When I was making salad, people were saying Why no spices in salad, but in a real salad we don't use spices.”
The mains consisted of Jollof Rice from Nigeria, a complete protein and carbohydrate-packed meal for anyone looking to get a hint of African cuisine in a single platter. Rice with large-cut veggies like carrots and beans, along with a salad which highly resembled cole slaw and chicken. While the rice and the cold salad with corn, lettuce, eggs and more carrots won us over, we felt the chicken could have been slightly tender and juicy.
For those who prefer to try a mutton side instead, could try Nyama Mbuzi Kaanga from Kenya. The soft and succulent mutton pieces was the perfect conclusion to the meal we could have asked for.
Every Saturday and Sunday throughout September
At Flavours of Africa, 764, Kalikapur Road, Kolkata
From 12:30 pm - 10:30 pm
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