Their hospitality is on a par with any professional star effort. Add to it an attempt to please and impress, and the future of the Indian hospitality industry looks so much brighter.

Students of the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) in Salt Lake, Sector V (picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya), put on their chefs? hat and best behaviour as they laid out their gourmet skills for a select gathering, in the run-up to the annual Calcutta Food Festival. A two-day affair, the fest is to be held at the Nalban Boating Complex on December 17 and 18.

Showcasing three international cuisines every year, the effort is an endeavour to give practical exposure to the students and boost their confidence. Over 3,000 guests are invited, with VIPs, industry experts as well as foreign dignitaries figuring prominently.

The fest that will feature Korean, Jamaican and Italian food in its fifth year, has earlier brought Egyptian, German, Malaysian, Indonesian, American, Spanish, Persian and Japanese cuisines to the table. ?Our students pick three international cuisines each year after thorough research,? revealed an IIHM spokesperson.

Over 70 dishes will be presented this year at a dozen live counters in a gala jazzed up with live musical and dance performances by the institute students as well as guest artistes, apart from games, prizes and theme d?cor.

Most of the Jamaican dishes on offer at the Voodoo Pavilion will be laced with dark rum, typical of the region, while in the Korean section presented at the Dragon?s Lair, there will be a lot of emphasis on seafood and chillies owing to the geographical location, explained the student chefs. Apart from the usual pastas and risottos, the oven-roasted quail in the Italian section is a must try. You can wash it all down with exotic cocktails rustled up by bartenders in the making.

Restaurateur and food expert Rakhi Purnima Dasgupta, guest of honour at the food preview on Thursday at the Salt Lake institute, was specially catered to and seemed suitably impressed.

?The students are getting more and more professional every year. In terms of food, everything is palatable, but the Spinach Lasagna was excellent. The quail was very well cooked, too, and I quite liked the Bulgogi, the Korean beef steak and the seafood variety in the Jamaican section,? said Rakhi. ?They need to work a little more at the live counters where you need to be much more confident, but the students are getting the hang of it,? she added.