(Top) Winners of the Nirmaan Awards with Raghuvendra Rathore; participants interact with chef Antonello Medda at an Italian cookery workshop at Taj Bengal. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

Do you swear by Italian cuisine and aspire to lay out that perfect platter? Some city ladies got lucky with chef Antonello Medda of The Hub, the Italian speciality restaurant at Taj Bengal, teaching them authentic Italian delicacies at a cookery workshop.

Kathleen Jardine, wife of US consul-general Henry V. Jardine, jewellery designer Nilanjana Chakraborty and designers Seema Bhasin and Shamlu Dudeja were some of the ladies on the lookout for Italian cooking lessons.

“Italian food is fast gaining favour with the Indian palate. Workshops like these will help Calcuttans know more about the cuisine,” said a spokesperson for the hotel.

The session started with Carmen Salad. Red and yellow bell peppers were grilled and tossed with green peas, sliced sundried tomatoes, celery, cooked babycorn, chopped green and black olives and grilled artichoke with a Parmesan crust.

These were added to cooked Basmati rice mixed with mayonnaise, cream, mustard and Parmesan, garnished with chopped parsley and then served.

The Rigatoni Alla Sorrentina was a blanched pasta, with buffalo mozzarella tossed with cherry tomatoes and tomato sauce, cooked to a thick consistency in olive oil and chopped garlic, saut?ed and garnished with fresh basil sprigs and virgin olive oil. “It’s very important to get hold of the right ingredients while cooking up an Italian meal,” said Medda.

Talent hunt

The Nirmaan Awards, supported by BD Bangur Endowment Fund, was held at the Oberoi Grand on September 28. Young talents in the field of fashion designing, art, textile designing and advertising photography are recognised at the event, and provided financial aid through interest-free loans and grants.

“The fund has been supporting those who want to study abroad. Last year, we decided to reward people in other creative fields, too,” said trustee Manjushree Bangur. “What started as a casual discussion has completed two years. In future, we will add more categories.”

Winning grants of Rs 1 lakh each were Smriti Gupta (fashion designing), Ved Prakash Singh (textile designing), Haran (advertising photography) and Apu Das Gupta (art).

The panel of judges comprised Jogen Chowdhury, Hafeez Contractor, Raghuvendra Rathore and Neeru Kumar.

The Dim Sum spread at China Bistro. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Light bite

Dim Sums are fried or steamed dumplings. These are small dishes served as snacks in many places in China. But the trend is changing and the snack is becoming part of a wholesome meal now.

The concept of Dim Sum originated from the practice of serving snacks at tea houses in China. But gradually, the delicacy made its way into the menu of the urban population and now you can lay your hands on numerous varieties,” says Rikki Dewan, owner of China Bistro.

The restaurant at 119A, MA Ahmed Street is serving up an assortment of vegetarian, non-vegetarian, steamed, fried and deep-fried Dim Sums.

The non-vegetarian variety comes in chicken, lamb, fish and prawn. The vegetarian range has babycorn, shiktai mushroom, broccoli, American corn and mixed vegetables.

The pocket pinch for non-vegetarians is between Rs 105 and Rs 175. The festival continues till October 15.