On a night dedicated to flavour and culture, and geared towards a momentous revival of the Pakistani culinary tradition at the Mohatta Palace in Karachi, that the launch of the National Foods cookbook was catered to seven distinct occasions — basant, mayun, anniversaries, aqiqa, bismillah, birthdays and eids.

What ensued was an amalgamation of tradition and eastern cuisine with a dance performance by the Body Beat troupe, showcasing a take on the seven distinct traditions while guests were served a sit-down dinner with Sajid Hasan and Savera Nadeem as the hosts for the evening’s entertainment.

The cookbook includes 50 recipes each enjoying its own distinct place on the dinner spread. As basant celebrates the arrival of spring, the performers broke out into dance formations with yellow kurtas and large kites popularly known as guddis while the gourmet chefs backstage busied themselves with select gastoronomical delights highlighted in the book such as puri parathas, hara masala smoked chatni and galawati kebabs.

With almost every local wedding preceded by a mayun ceremony where the ritual of the bride’s beautification is initiated, it was again played out on stage by the dancers while a selection of culinary delicacies from a menu comprising bagharay baingan, Lahori harissa and white karahi were the focus of the chefs’ frenzy. Moreover, chicken hara masala, BBQ drumsticks, Patiala rice, lasagna and beef arrabiata punctuated the physical celebratory enactment of anniversary festivities.

While the song and dance celebrations on the aqiqa or birth was also played out with precision on stage, the same saw a lavish spread suggestion of mutton almond qorma, dum gosht masala and creamy kebabs on dinner tables.

A thorough inspection of the cookbook at this point reveals that it doesn’t overlook the more popular and present-day delicacies such as tandoori pizza and Lahori bhallay alongside achari biryani, tomato chili, spicy chutni and nargisi koftay that appeals to the more traditional palates.

Finally, the goings-on on stage ended with an ode to the festive season of Eid denoted by a catchy sense of joie de vivre in the performers’ dance steps as guests gulped down generous helping of the fragrant rice dish of potli pulao, lip-smacking beef masala and the now immensly popular Afghani dumm kebab.

Credits: Photography: Kashif-ud-din PR management: Selina Rashid (Lotus)