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Food and Travel, Food Events

Serendipity Arts Festival 2017 – My experience

December 30, 2017

Serendipity Arts festival Goa 2017

When an invite for the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa popped into my email inbox in November, I knew I wanted to go. I had seen a few interesting updates from the 2016 event. Chef Manu Chandra was one of the curators of the Culinary Arts section. He is someone whose craft I respect a lot, so I was pretty sure that a visit to this festival would be an enriching experience.

So what is the Serendipity Arts Festival?

It is a confluence of craft, music, theatre, dance, culinary arts, visual arts and photography, held every December over 8 days at Panaji, Goa. All categories are curated by panels of experts.

Events were held in venues on a 1.8 km stretch along Mandovi river, selected for their historical value, natural settings and affinity towards the fine arts. Some of these venues were the Adil Shah Palace, Children’s Park, Kala Academy and the old Goa Medical College complex.

serendipity arts festival goa

Importance of art and art festivals

My visit to Europe in 2016 meant many hours spent in museums gawking at some of the most stunning art. The experiences were a mixture of awe and befuddlement, even overwhelming at times. It got me thinking about the role art plays in our lives. It is difficult to quantify the benefits of art in our life. It leaves its mark in subtler ways. Art stimulates our perceptive and analytical mind. Sit in front of a beautiful painting and you realise that art slows us down to think. And anything that slows us down in today’s times is good.

When we imbibe art in a mindful way, it gently nudges us to interact. Unlike other direct forms of expression, it is not something you can read and/or understand at a glance. Art makes us appreciate the all pervading greys that surround us, making room for as many interpretations as there are audience. In the elegance of art, there is no right or wrong. Being in touch with art adds fuel to the various creative processes such as cooking, fashion, design and more. It sharpens our sense of appreciation of beauty in day to day life.

So yes, festivals showcasing art in its various forms need to be loved and encouraged.

serendipity arts festival goa

The promenade along the Mandovi river decked up for SAF

The Culinary Arts section of the Serendipity Arts Festival

The intersection of food and art is not an oft visited territory. We mostly think of food as basic sustenance and cooking as a mundane household chore. It is sometimes elevated to the level of a skill when it comes to chefs.

Taking something as everyday as cooking to the level of an art, now that makes us think.

Series like Masterchef Australia and Chef’s Table have elevated food to works of art with the way the dishes are presented. World’s number one chef Massimo Bottura  often talks about how art opened his eyes to a remarkable new world (sic). “Art reminds you to keep a small window open for everyday poetry and when that happens, the most mundane object turns to gold.” This sentence from one of his interviews just sums it all up.

So how did food play into the hands of art at the Serendipity Arts Festival? Here are some of the sessions I loved.

Stand on the Street, Curated By Aruna Ganesh Ram

serendipity arts festival goa

A scene from the play – a pan vendor from Banaras

This was a unique creative expression of food, where 4 performers took on the roles of different street food vendors from around India. Each character shared stories around the food they are selling and their lives via role-play. The sets for each performer resembled a street scape of that place – be it Chennai or Darjeeling or Banaras. A delicious plate of each street food was shared with the limited audience allowed for each show during the course of the play making it a truly food-art experience.

Mapping of Mapusa Market – by graphic artist Orijit Sen

As a person who loves markets all over the world, this was on my must see agenda. I love photographing markets – the hustle bustle, the fresh produce, the vendors. But a market tour by way of comic book illustrations captures the scenes, people and conversations in a richer context than what photographs would. Orijit Sen’s project conveys the atmosphere  and stories from the Mapusa flower market through the comic strips. 

Sarah Todd’s take on Crab Xacuti

serendipity arts festival goa

Sarah Todd

Xacuti is a famous Goan curry with a complex mix of spices. Doing a riff on a traditional recipe is not different from reinterpreting a master’s artwork and Sarah of Masterchef Australia fame did just that. She runs a restaurant called Antares in Goa for which she traveled a lot around the state. Todd showcases her version of some of the popular Goan recipes on the menu. Toasting the local Poi bread on one stove while giving the curry its finishing touches on the other, she spoke about her journey to becoming a chef and opening a restaurant in India.

There were many more well attended culinary arts sessions. Coconut Story, curated by Odette Mascerhans, celebrated the versatile coconut, an ingredient integral to Indian coastal cuisines. Chocolate tasting by Mason and Co, a workshop on India’s cheese traditions by Aditya Raghavan and a song and dance demonstration of the famous dish, Vindaloo were just few of them.

If you would like to check out some of these interesting sessions and attend the festival next year, check out Serendipity Arts Festival website and Facebook Page.

Also read:

Whitefield Habba, a local celebration

A tiffin trail in Chennai

Staying at Montmartre in Paris

food & travel food events
by Nandita Iyer 
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  • 🌵🍃☘️@pinterest says you’re going to want a garden room in 2020. I’m already ahead of this trend 🤣☘️🍀🌵
  • Things that are making me smile this morning:
🏃‍♀️A short run in the cold breeze
🌱Rearranging some plants inside the house
❄️A new (BIG) fridge waiting to be installed
🎵Looking forward to music class
💜This soft vintage silk saree that's just perfect for the winters in Bangalore
  • ⭐️I’m going to help you eat healthy all winter using all the fabulous seasonal produce we get, so make sure you’re following my account @saffrontrail ⭐️
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🥦FULL RECIPE- SAVE THE POST🥦
Broccoli season is here and this is one recipe I plan to make every week if not more often! This literally takes five minutes, I kid you not. The garlic peeling is what takes the most time for this super easy recipe.
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WARM BROCCOLI SALAD
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2 medium heads of broccoli
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp finely minced garlic
1 tsp finely grated ginger
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp sesame seeds
2-3 tbsp soya sauce
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Break broccoli into florets. Wash and microwave for 3 mins or steam in steamer. Drain and keep aside.
In a pan, heat oil. Fry garlic, ginger, chili flakes, sesame for few seconds. Add soya sauce. Toss in broccoli florets and remove to a bowl immediately. Tastes best warm. Eat as a salad or with some steamed rice.
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For more such seasonal recipes, follow @saffrontrail
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If you are a brand or a corporate wanting to organise a salad workshop or a healthy cooking workshop featuring vibrant beautiful food, write to me saffrontrail@gmail.com or DM me here. I can also train restaurant chefs to create amazing salads.
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For more such recipe inspirations follow @saffrontrail
  • Another photo from a shoot I did with my neighbour for her saree draping workshop at @ahundredhands last month.
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This saree belonged to my grandma and it is nearly 40 years old. The silk has been washed several several times over the years. It drapes ever so softly and falls beautifully. I don’t even dare to iron this delicate fabric. ⭐️
Draped by my neighbour Janaki in whose hands the fabrics simply flow, a  knot there, a tuck here and a fold there and what you see this - no pins, no petticoat, no nonsense. The cascading back pleats are more dramatic but the front is lovely as well. Swipe to see the front style.
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Is my salad doing justice to the pretty bowl or is the pretty bowl doing justice to my salad?
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Mostly all leftovers from yesterday's ZESTY SALAD WORKSHOP goes into a big salad for our lunch today.
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Now getting to the 'hire me' part-- Since I am back in the workshop groove, if you are a lifestyle /beauty/ health brand or a corporate that wants to conduct healthy cooking / eating / salad making workshops for a group of people, then please email me at saffrontrail@gmail.com - you can also email me from my bio. Preferred location is Bangalore but I am willing to consider traveling to other cities too.
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If you know of a brand or HR friends who would be keen on collaborating with me for talks and /or workshops, please share this post with them💕💕
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Ah, the pretty bowl is from @freedomtreehome btw. Not sponsored .
  • (FULL RECIPE IN POST- SAVE the POST for the recipe )
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Bringing more Amla goodness to you with this post!
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Blueberries are on the top of every antioxidant rich foods list. The antioxidant content of a food is measured in Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) units. Amla or Indian gooseberry has an ORAC score of 2,61,500, which is over 50 times that of blueberries. I hope that convinces you to make amla a part of your diet. Here's a simple recipe for Amla- Raita. You can mix this with rice and eat as a simple meal.
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Amla Raita

Serves 4

4-5 amla 
¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp salt

3-4 tbsp coconut

2 green chillies

¼ tsp salt

2 cups yogurt

1 tsp oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

Pressure cook the amla with ½ cup water along with salt and turmeric for 4-5 minutes.

Drain amla and remove seeds. (Drink up any leftover water in cooker or add to dal)  In a mixer jar, grind together cooked amla, coconut, green chillies and salt to a coarse paste.

Add this to yogurt and whisk well.

Heat oil in a small pan. Fry mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once seeds splutter transfer over the raita. 
Do try this during the current amla- season and tag me if you post it here!
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She was in Bangalore over the weekend and we met for coffee and then lunch. It was such a pleasure to model one of her hand painted brooches - check these out at @khaosphilos, these are one of a kind wearable art.
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