Kochi: Kerala`s backwaters and beaches are not the only ones drawing foreigners to this part of the country as the state`s rich variety of food is attracting visitors who take cookery lessons to hone their culinary skills.
It may be difficult to pronounce the names of most of Kerala`s tongue twisting traditional food, known for its simplicity and variety, but foreign tourists, both men and women, come all the way here to learn the art of cooking up a delightful Keralite spread, says cookery experts in the field.
`Pullisherry`, `Kaalan`, `Theeyal`, `Thoran`, `Fish Molee`, `Idiyappam` and `Palappam` are some to name a few.
Travel agents have tied up with many enterprising women entrepreneurs for whom cookery is a passion and they are taking lessons for the foreign guests.
47-year-old Nimmy, who has worked as a cookery instructor at Vimalayalam, a finishing school, is now taking cookery lessons for foreign tourists, many of whom are food lovers, writers and cookery instructors.
Nimmy said she has been taking cookery classes for foreign guests since 1997 and most of her classes have to be booked in advance, especially during the tourist season. During the off season, she takes classes for housewives and about 100 housewives were trained recently, Nimmy said.
Among her many guests were Hollywood actor Jeremy Pivan, who visited her school a year ago along with a team of Discovery Channel and Johnny Apple, the editor of New York Times and writer of books like `Apples America`.
With the vegetarian fad going around, many guests are keen to learn more about vegetarian dishes.
A Japanese woman Mayo is coming to India for the third time to learn Kerala cooking, says Nimmy, who was invited to demonstrate Syrian Christian course at the Culinary Institute of America at Napa Valley, California a few years ago.
She was one of the three Indians invited, the other two were professional chefs.
Leelu takes one or two classes a day during the peak tourist season and during the leaner months, she takes lessons only in the afternoon.
Both Nimmy and Leelu prefer foreign tourists to Indians as they are less demanding, they say.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, September 28, 2009, 13:30
