THE GREAT FBAI FOOD HUNT 2015 - BANDRA


I was going through instagram on 10th April,2015 and i found this post in one of my friends account, was excited from the very moment to be a part of it. First thing i saw was the date and luckily it was 11th. I always liked the game of treasure hunt from childhood. And this one being associated with food, i was overjoyed to know.So as soon as i saw this post i started calling my friends to make my own team. All said yes at start, but ditched me later saying no.But i wanted to be a part of this food hunt so i mailed FOOD BLOGGERS ASSOCIATION OF INDIA saying is it ok if i come alone. I was curiously waiting for reply. In few minutes they replied saying yes i can and there are many participants who are coming alone and they would make groups once we reach there. I was jumping with happiness after going through the mail. And first thing i did after checking that mail was to register my ticket for FBAIFOODHUNT, BANDRA. I was just hoping that Registration was still on & to add on to my luck it was. I went through the procedure and got my confirmation done.

FBAI organized this event in association with MALAYSIAN PALM OIL COUNCIL so that food bloggers, food writers and food lovers can meet, share thoughts, ideas, concepts related to food and have fun. The hunt consisted of 6 restaurants, 6 clues and 6 activities. At each restaurant they had volunteers which were named as FBAI culinary police.



The starting point was to assemble at OUT OF THE BLUE, BANDRA. As soon as i reached there, they paired me with group of 2 people who were alone like me. So we were 3 in a team. 1 Advertiser, 1 House wife and 1 Chef. There were total of 8 team, each consisting of  3 or 4 participants. The best part was the age group because it didn't belong to one group, there were kids, teenagers, youngsters, old.. The clock was set and the hunt began.



FBAI FOOD HUNT CLUE #1

DESSERT NEAR A HOSPITAL
----------- OF -----------

PIC COURTESY - COUNTRY OF ORIGIN


https://www.facebook.com/CountryOfOrigin/photos_stream


PIC COURTESY - COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
It was easy to guess and it was COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. We managed to guess the restaurant name fast but failed to do same in reaching there due to traffic. Only one person was allowed inside the outlet, and it was blind tasting of pastries. My teammates pushed me to have a shot at it because they thought being a chef i would recognize it easily.You need to taste 3 pastries & guess the flavor of it. The first one i tasted was blueberry, Second one was chocolate & hazelnut and third one was Red velvet. I recognized first 2 quickly but got confused on red velvet and took around 5 minutes guessing it and my team mates couldn't understand what i was doing. I was like i couldn't recognize RED VELVET, duh. As soon as the task was over we were handed over the another clue.






FBAI FOOD HUNT CLUE #2

BENGOLI TICKLED THEIR TASTE BUDS WITH MISHTIDOI HERE

We thought that the answer to the clue was Bengal sweets, being pretty sure we reached the place and unfortunately that was not the case. Being disappointed  we started searching on Zomato for Bengali restaurants in  Bandra west. And finally we got the key to the next door, that was BONGBONG. In this restaurant we were made to taste a classical Bengali dish named DHOKAR DALNA WITH PAPAYA CHUTNEY and were suppose to guess 14 ingredients used in making that dish. On completion of this activity we were handed over the 3rd clue.



FBAI FOOD HUNT CLUE #3

JAPANESE LIKE TO PLAY WITH FOOD


We took almost a year guessing this clue. This is the only reason we couldn't win the fbai food hunt . We went to all the Japanese restaurants in Bandra west - kofuku, Global fusion, Sing kong, Nom Nom. Some were closed and others were not the right place. We had lost all hopes in finding this clue, but then i tried reading about the last fbai food hunt in bandra . I checked the list of restaurants volunteering that time. And finally found the answer to the clue which was MAMAGOTO which means play and food. They served a salad and we had to guess 7 ingredients . We were very quick in doing so.


FBAI FOOD HUNT CLUE #4

WHERE YOU GET SA"LSA N NA"CHOS"


The clue itself answered the question, it was SANCHOS . Chef had plated a portion of nachos with salsa, guacamole, rajma, olives, jalapenos and sour cream. We had to replicate the same dish same way on another platter. They had provided us with all the ingredients required for plating. I started doing it , the fbai cuinary police volunteer mentioned that our plate appeared better then the actual plate.



FBAI FOOD HUNT CLUE #5

PLACE WHERE GRAND FATHER LIKES TO EAT AND DRINK
---------------CAFE AND BAR



There are many cafe and bars in bandra west, so we got a little confused as to which one it would be. Then i recollected my friend talking about newly opened GANGSTAS CAFE & WINE, and the answer was bang on. Few Ingredients were kept in containers and the executive chef of gangstas said that we need to make Tabbouleh using the igredients. I had been making tabbouleh from past 4 years, so i started making it without thinking much. we finished the task in not more than 5 minnutes,  Chef was really happy with what we made, and he mentioned that we were the only group to make it perfectly right. So we had a huge smile on our face.

CHECK OUT MY RECIPE FOR TABBOULEH :- http://chefmrugankdesai.blogspot.in/2015/04/tabbouleh.html

FBAI FOOD HUNT CLUE #6

IT ENDS FROM WHERE IT BEGAN

This one was the last & easiest of all the clues. The answer to this was OUT OF THE BLUE. As soon as we reached there we had one more small task to go. There were different types of dips(fondue) kept and we need to tell atleast 2 ingredients used in the dips. Either by tasting or by visually looking at it. And trust me they were delicious.

PIC COURTESY - FBAI


After the food hunt. FBAI had arranged a Yummy and Delicious buffet for all the participants. There were some drinks, some starters and off course a mouth watering buffet. And as we all were hungry after the 2 hrs of hustle and bustle, we just couldn't resist the temptation of having that yummy buffet  ,we all were over the entire buffet. Prizes were announced, gift hampers were being awarded to the winners.

It was a day full of fun . It just didn't mean winning that food hunt, but it was more bigger and a broader perspective which was set by the FBAI and TEAM - Meeting new people, Interacting , Knowing each other, Spreading the good word about the food, having a break from your daily schedule. I was glad and happy to be a part of such a amazing event, look forward for many more like this. Kudos to FBAI, MPOC and TEAM.

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