Italian cuisine is one of the most relished in the world, with its mouth-watering flavours and refreshing tastes. Hyderabadis are always up for something new and that goes well with the gastronomic industry of this city that thrives on innovation. Novotel Hyderabad Airport has come up with the ‘World of Italian Cuisine’, a food festival celebrating the unique delights of Italy, which is on till February 24, 2024.
As goes the tradition at Novotel Hyderabad Airport, we were served some exciting mocktails just as we entered the restaurant area like peach virgin cosmopolitan. This was followed by the Italian lemon barley soup (chicken) which was soothing to the throat and with its refreshing taste, we were all eager to know what was on the extensive menu. We had some herb-crusted baked chicken bites which were crispy on the outside with juicy chicken inside, the mixed herb flavour enhancing the taste of succulent chicken pieces. Balancing this ooziness, we were served with some crumpled polenta goujons— all crispy and crunchy!
In addition to the chicken varieties, we were also served seafood options like smoked salmon with capers and seafood marinara. No harm in giving it a try once you’re here. Moving on to the main course, the live counter set—up offered some authentic Italian delicacies. The best part was that we could customise the pasta according to our tastes and chef promised to serve just as we liked it!
Finally heading towards the desserts, we had some amazing and mouth watering tiramisu made with cheese. The gram cracker layers were indeed savoury and strawberry panna cotta filled with cream and strawberry puree are perfect options for your sweet cravings.
Executive Sous Chef,G Ganesh Kumar at Novotel Hyderabad Airport shared why they chose to include Italian cuisine in the menu: “We have done all Indian food festivals last year. We have covered all the states. We wanted to bring in new flavours of Italy so that people will enjoy the herbs. Basically, Italian food has herbs in their food; we wanted to bring that taste to our local guests so that people can enjoy them. Everyone enjoys pasta but we want to show homemade pasta like ravioli, cannelloni and other different things. Indian food festivals have become very common nowadays and so we wanted to give an international touch to the food. Every alternate month we will shift between Indian and then International cuisine.”
Also Read: Food review: A Taste of the East
The chef also informed us that the menu will include new dishes every week. “We are trying to get in all the authentic dishes on your plate so that people get to taste new flavours apart from pasta and pizza. In Italy, cornmeal is a poor man’s food. They depend on wheat and flour. There is something called hunter’s food in Italy and we are keeping the same in one of our week’s menu. We want to redo the menu so that people enjoy the food,” he concluded.