The fourth edition of Indian Food Festival kicked off at Elaf Jeddah Hotel (Red Sea Mall) on Thursday evening. Indian Consul General Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh opened the festival by cutting the ribbon in a colorful ceremony attended by Ziyad Ahmed Bin Mahfouz, President & CEO of Elaf Group of Companies, Abdullah Bakri, vice president of Elaf Hotels Company, consuls general of a number of countries, several Indian consuls and Elaf officials as well as prominent figures from the Saudi and Indian communities. Organized by the Consulate General of India and India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) under the Ministry of Tourism, in association with Elaf Jeddah Hotel, the festival offers an opportunity for Jeddawis to enjoy the real taste of India’s diversity, traditions and culture through its authentic and mouth watering cuisine, which is tipped one among the best in the world.

Addressing a press conference held on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony, Sheikh said the festival would further help strengthen the bonds of ties between India and Saudi Arabia. “Food speaks volumes about any country’s culture and traditions, not to say about the influence of Indian cuisine on deepening the historic India-Saudi relations,” he said.

The consul general noted that three renowned chefs from ITDC have exclusively arrived in Jeddah to show their culinary skills in the four-day festival. “Food lovers and connoisseurs will get a rare and unique opportunity to enjoy the original culinary skills and the flavors of exotic Indian spices, which make Indian cuisine a truly international delight,” he said while noting that the previous three editions of Indian food festivals at Elaf Jeddah Hotel were highly acclaimed and successful events.

In his speech, Bin Mahfouz said the previous editions of the festival were a great success in terms of promoting tasty Indian cuisine with an exemplary Elaf professional touch. He said the Elaf Hotel team, headed by Hussein Rauf, the general manager, would spare no efforts to showcase its commitment and services to make this festival a memorable event. He thanked Sheikh and the Indian consulate team in making the festival a great success. He also thanked former Indian Consul Generals Faiz Ahmed Kidwai and B.S. Mubarak for initiating and continuing the festival.

Bin Mahfouz sees a great future for its hospitality business with a thrust on popular Indian cuisine, catering to the tastes of three million Indian expatriates in the Kingdom apart from the Saudi citizens. He hoped a large number of people would turn out to visit the festival this year. Bin Mahfouz also spoke about the vast expertise and experience of his group in the hospitality industry. “Thirty years ago, Elaf Group started Haj and Umrah hospitality. We have 14 properties in Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah to serve food, especially Indian food among the pilgrims.”

Speaking on the occasion, Bakri thanked Indian Tourism Department for flying out three leading Indian professional chefs within short notice to create delicious dishes in association with the Elaf kitchen. “The previous editions of the festival witnessed huge draw thanks to the diverse and extremely delicious Indian cuisine.” He also noted that the group’s main area of focus is promotion of tourism, especially religious tourism between India and the Kingdom. The number of Saudis visiting India’s tourism destinations is growing and Elaf is having a sizable stake in this. We facilitate sight-seeing and visit of picturesque tourist attractions in India,” he said, adding that the Elaf concentrates on the three vital areas of hotel, and travel and tourism industries, as well as Haj and Umrah services.

On his part Rauf said that Elaf introduces the real taste of highly delicious and mouth watering Indian cuisine to not only local people but also to international visitors coming over to Jeddah. “At the festival, charges for food begin at SR75 — the charge for a station. The total cost of the whole buffet experience is SR175. There are four stations and customers have the choice to visit any number of stations. Anybody who doesn’t want the full buffet can tick which station he wants to go. The four stations highlight the diversity of India, with the Lucknowi base providing the taste of the north, while the other three Maharashtra, Deccan and South stations taking you down on a food trip from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari. If one makes a choice of visiting one station, then in addition to the choice of food there’s soup and salad or dessert included in the charge of SR75,” he said, while claiming that SR175 per person for five-star buffet at a discounted rate is quite reasonable.

The festival is open for public from 7 p.m. to 1.00 a.m. from Friday to Sunday. The consulate and ITDC are organizing, in association with InterContinental Hotel Taif, a similar festival in Taif from March 29 to 31. The Indian Consulate, in association with Saudi Indian Business Network (SIBN), is organizing a three-day Indian Food Festival at the consulate premises from March 30 to May 1.