KARACHI, May 3: The 21 members of the European Union tried to outwit one another at a Food Mela organised at the residence of the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Hans-Joachim Kiderlen, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Union.

The member states of the union which set up their stalls at t he Mela included Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.

Every stall presented food specialties together with information material on the European Union.

However, the UK mission had some unique idea, which did not see it enough to offer merely delicacies and cuisine specialties. Its stall attracted most visitors given the fact that there were a lot of giveaways originating from the UK.

Various representatives of the government, politics, media, culture, business as well as foreign representatives attended the extravaganza.

Governor of Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad was the chief guest. Mr Kiderlen, the host, in his welcome speech said the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC), the nucleus of the later European Union, and was signed by France, then West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on March 25, 1957.

It was in 1993 followed by the Treaty of Maastricht (the Netherlands) establishing the European Union of the then 12-member states. After accession of most of the central-eastern and northeastern European countries in 2004 and 2007, the union now has 27 member states, he said.

Ireneusz Makles, consul general of Poland, told Dawn that one reason behind holding the Food Mela was to give exposure to the variety of the cuisine of the small continent of Europe.

The Polish dish of cold soup and hard cheese was one of the top sought-after items at the event.