InterContinental Holds Indian Promotion
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The COEX InterContinental Seoul's buffet restaurant, The Brasserie, holds an Indian food promotion through May 25.
For the promotion, the hotel has invited three guest chefs from the InterContinental chains in India. They are Mohammed Yunus Khan, Yogendra Singh Negi and Satish Kumar.
All meeting for the first time, they have teamed up with Shovan Das, Indian chef of the COEX InterContinental Seoul to offer a range of Indian cuisine.
``We're lucky to have these three chefs here,'' Das said. ``They can now present the diversity of authentic Indian foods from different parts of India.''
As the Indian cuisine will be served in the form of buffet at the restaurant, diners can easily sample a variety of unique Indian flavors and tastes, he said.
The three guest chefs have their own specialties and roles in the promotion.
Khan is in charge of general Indian dishes while Negi and Kumar specialize in curries and Tandoori, or clay oven dishes. Das advises them to create dishes suitable for diners here as authentic Indian spices and flavors can be too strong for non-Indians.
They said the biggest challenge is to offer authentic Indian dishes in the way that Koreans can find enjoyable.
``What I'm trying to do here is to interact with guests here to know what Koreans like and dislike,'' Negi said. ``Indian cuisine cannot be changed but its presentation can be adjusted. We can make its tastes a bit milder and less strong.''
When they first created Indian dishes on the first day of the promotion, which kicked off on May 1, they had to readjust the tastes and flavors of dishes as they may be too strong for diners here.
But they agreed to stick to the rule that they offer simple homemade style Indian cuisine, which may be unfamiliar but healthy.
Diversity is a defining feature of Indian cuisine and it varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically diverse subcontinent.
Given the diversity, the four chefs plan to offer 150 kinds of different dishes including traditional Indian desserts during the promotion.
But it is also true that Indian cuisine is sometimes simplified by representative dishes such as Tandoori chicken and curry here. But the Indian chefs emphasized there are more varieties in the same curry dish, depending on the amount of spices and accompaniments of different nan or rice.
The guest chefs find the promotion a good chance to learn more about international cuisine as well as to promote Indian dishes internationally.
``I think we could sample the tastes of Korean cuisine and facilitate the experience in the future to create Indian cuisine for diners with different needs,'' Khan said.
The Brasserie buffet is available at 41,000 won for lunch and 48,000 won for dinner. For more information, call (02) 3430-8610.