Five star hosts street food festival

Street-food, which has always been more of a common man's delight might be silently moving into the higher echelons of the five-stars. For the second consecutive year, Cidade de Goa, one of Goa's first five-star hotels had recently organised a week long street food festival devoted to the street-food that is available from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, titled 'A la Cart! Street bites'.

"We had tremendous response in the first year that prompted us to have the second version of the festival," Executive Chef Prashant Paul said.

He said that the clients who arrive in the star hotels usually don't look out for street food. "But if you offer them street food in hygienic conditions, they jump at it," Paul said.

"People across India love street food. Our intention is to present it in a hygienic way," he added.

The festival, held between August 18 and 23, had Goa's own chicken cafreal, Ros omelette, which  comprises chicken gravy and omelette, and bhaji, rubbing shoulders with south Indian dosas and kheemas, a favourite of the foodies.

Paul said that Goa's street food is predominantly non-veg especially laced with beef and pork, which is largely unacceptable to the domestic tourists.

Goa attracts around 20 lakh domestic tourists, majority of whom arrive here from the states like Gujarat, Karnataka and regions of north India, who do not savour beef or pork.

Paul recalls how Ros omelette was initially tried by a small-time street food vendor in Margao town and within a decade it became a hit.

"Now there are several vendors selling the Ros omelette," he said.