A festival to 'expose North-East'

New Delhi, Dec 9 (UNI) Delhiites are getting a chance to taste authentic spicy delicacies from the seven sisters at the ongoing 'North East Culture&Food Festival' here.

Organised by the Park Hotel, the event 'Expose North-East' is an eight-day affair, which started last Friday with an aim to promote and expose the culture, traditions and especially the cuisine of the region.

''If Thai, Chinese and Japanese cuisine can be popular, then why not the delicious North-East dishes?" Ashish Chopra, Executive Director, Institute of Environment Management and Social Development and the co-ordinator of the event told UNI.

Looking forward to bridging the gap between the North-East region and other parts of the country through perfect assimilation of cultural traits and food habits, Chopra said, ''I aim to expose the warm culture, varied traditions, exotic cuisine and the simplicity of the aboriginals across the country.'' With the help of some other enthusiastic youths, he plans to organise such culture and food festivals in every part of the country. Incidentally, he has also authored a book 'NE Belly: The basic North-East cook book'.

On offer at the hotel are exotic Pork dishes with "akhuni" and "anishi" or the bamboo shoots and "Laii saag", the mouth watering "Masor tengi" (sour fish curry), "Matir dali" (black beans), "Khar" (vegetables with soda), "Koldil" (banana flower), "Posola" (tender banana stem) "Kumura Haah", "Irromba", "Bengena pitika" and many other items.

Alongside the assortment of 30 dishes, salads, chutneys and desserts, a photography exhibition of upcoming talents- Amit Sinha (Manipur) and Kenri Basar (Arunachal Pradesh) are also on display showing North-East and Delhi (monuments, portraits, life) through the eye of North Easterners.

Capturing the unique and wonderful moments of life and sentiments, Chopra, one among the band of photographers showcasing North-East through their lenses, said, ''we are giving the young upcoming talents a platform to show their works.'' Another artistic visual medium of communication without words, a painting exhibition, was also on revealing the immense talent of young artists Jibesh Chakma and Ranjan Engti.

A scintillating musical performance by Mizo girls' band brought about a perfect conclusion to the evening.

UNI