It was three days of non-stop exhibition of a variety of African cuisine to a global audience recently when Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) held its annual food and wine festival in Lagos. Visitors from all parts the world had wide range of fresh African food to choose from and learn to cook also, as masterclasses were also held at the event.
With over 200 vendors at the event, attendees had a swell time eating and drinking, while also networking in a relaxed artmosphere created by the organisers.
Moyosore Maitanmi, one of the attendees, speaking to the Friday Treat, said that he was particularly thrilled to experience the making of various dishes first hand. he said, “This is my first time attending and I am so impressed. The level of organisation is top notch and I am proud to be African. I never knew we had such a wide array of dishes. I will try as many as I can definately”.
Another attendee, Semirat Adediran, stressed that her love for local dishes had grown, seeing the various presentations for African dishes at the festival.
“Before now, I preferred to order takeaways and fast food for myself. But my experience here has made my love for home made African dishes grow so much. I plan to enrol in a cooking school as soon as possible to learn”, she said.
Speaking during her masterclasses session, Romy Gill, a world class Indian chef from the United Kingdom, professed her love for the taste of African food. She also said she wanted to show to people that they can make Indian food very easily at home.
“I made chicken and samosa. This is an Indian street food. We made other Indian cuisines, including the Indian tea. We also made rice. We had simple ingredients which had great nutritional value,” she said.
The Indian chef explained that the Indian street food is not quick as it comes with layers of flavours. “If you are going to have samosa chart, you will have nine different layers,” she said.
She explained that in the UK, Indian food is the top food. “People love Indian food. For my food, I have the home cooking and people in England love Indian food. UK is the most multi-cultural place in the world. We have people from different countries making good food. It is not just Indian food, even Chinese, Japanese, Mexico, Nigeria foods are available in UK. There are so many lovely chefs doing lovely things”, Gill said.
She said the food industry is growing and social media has made things easy with people travelling around the world to learn cuisines from other continents.
“People are now aware and they can stay together and learn. Social media is great and you can see what is happening around the world.”
The cooking masterclasses had world class chefs from across various continents with cuisines carefully chosen from all around the world.
Oyinade Adegite, Group head, Corporate and External Affairs, said the event was a family event where provisions were made for the adult shoppers, as well as a well-fitted play area also designed to add another layer of excitement for children to keep them meaningfully engaged.
Adegite said, “It’s an open event for all, including street children. For some of them, it is going to be the fun of a lifetime while for others, it will be something they will be enjoying regularly”.
The GTCO Food and Drink Festival brings together the greatest minds on the global culinary stage, industrious Nigerian small food business owners, a world class, state-of-the-art children’s play area, merging them all to give attendees the most memorable food and drink event.
