Barbeque Nation is offering a delicious tribute to the African continent. Shrabasti Mallik enjoys a hearty meal amid tribal beats
Ever wondered about walking into a lion’s mouth to have foodIJ Well, check out the refurbished space of the Barbeque Nation at Jangpura that has got the shape of a lion with its jaws wide open, ready to ‘devour’ the customers who come in to celebrate the Africa Magica festival. The festival is being hosted at all BBQ outlets. Everything inside — from the African tribal motifs to hanging green twigs, staffers (referred to as guest service associates, GSA) dressed in animal print outfits to their services with tribal jigs — introduces us to the African wilderness. Even the African beats that play in the restaurant seem to echo the African proverb — a village without music is a dead village.
We are politely asked to put up an African headgear placed on the table. “Food is all about experience. You experience the aroma, the intermingling of spices and the way your dish is prepared. Now things have evolved from customer satisfaction to overwhelming them in every way possible. So along with the food, which is all African, we have tried to incorporate every element that will add to the experience of dining,” says Paras Kocchar, senior manager, Sales and Marketing, North Region. Our GSA, with his face painted with tribal motifs, places skewers of Belafonte prawns (lemon rind, saffron, sweet paprika, olive oil and mayo), Tsimboka veggies (boiled and fried arbi, tricolour bell peppers, onions and pepperoni), Tanganyika stuffed mushrooms (coated with coconut paste, green chilli and garlic) and Madagascar fried fish (fish coated with kasundi or mustard sauce and spices) on the grill. The Shakalaka lychee, a special preparation where lychee is stuffed with cheese and coated with light batter and grilled with shakalaka marination steals our heart. It is the perfect combination of sweetness of the fruit and tanginess of cheese. “The lychee is of a special kind,” informs Kocchar, “It has been imported and is seedless.”
Even the tawa and tandoor starters boast of delicacies like Zambian cigars (minced meat stuffed in wonton sheets and griddle fried), Tanzanian sabbath fish (basa, tricoloured bell peppers, green chilli garlic, olive oil and coriander) and peri peri tangri. “Africans love their fishes and have many recipes. Here we have a few, just to make people familiar with the taste,” adds Kocchar.
As we head to buffet for the African meal, a few GSAs break into an impromptu jig in the middle of the restaurant floor, matching steps with African beats. They go around all the tables to entertain the diners. One of them, Sagar Bisht, says that it is all a part of the African experience. “The place is generally associated with forests and wildlife. But it also has a vibrant culture, both in music and in dance, specially tribal. We wanted to show that,” he says as he takes his position at the kulfi station.
We can not hold ourselves from trying the Bushman’s duck soup with orange zest (a heavy broth with duck confit, parsley, orange zest and star anise). We follow it up with a platter of Jollof rice (rice cooked with chicken tomato puree, root vegetables and spices), a popular dish from west Africa and Harissa fish (north African hot sauce with Red bell peppers, coriander and caraway seeds). Vegetarian lovers can choose Mozambique potato casserole (sliced Mediterranean veggies stewed in tomato sauce and topped with mashed potatoes), ambo tovve (raw mango cooked in yellow dal) and mixed veggies in Adobo sauce.
The idea of the festival, which began last year, is to make people aware of the African cuisine. “When we think of dining out or ordering in, we think of all cuisines under the sun. But African cuisine does not even make it to that list, whereas it has a very rich palette. This festival is an attempt to familiarise foodies with this unique cuisine,” explains Kocchar and points out that although the recipes are from Africa, the spices used are Indian. “Apart from the peri peri chilli, which we import, all the spices used are Indian,” he informs.