To celebrate the culinary diversity of the United Kingdom, the British Curry Festival will be returning to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to showcase the Best of British Cuisine in a top five-star luxury hotel setting.
The event will occur at the InterContinental Dhaka from 16-29 October 2022, with highly-acclaimed Michelin-star chef experts in the British culinary scene joining the British Curry Festival team. He will showcase the ‘Best of British Regional Dishes’ while fellow chefs will focus on recreating favourite curry dishes from Britain’s high streets.
The choice of Dhaka marks a ‘homecoming’ for the festival – the first such one was held at the same venue in 2002 when the hotel was called Dhaka Sheraton, and it has been nearly 12 years since the festival last took place in Dhaka.
Curry Life developed the concept of the British Curry Festival in the UK, where curry is one of the most popular foods, considered akin to the national cuisine. The event aims to showcase British curry as a brand with the help of talented curry chefs and leading hotels and support from the British High Commission/Embassy and sponsors. The festival plays a vital role in Curry Life magazine’s aim to promote British Bangladeshi chefs’ artistic and culinary skills, highlighting their leading role in ensuring curry’s popularity in the UK and beyond.
The event is truly international. Over the last decade, it has promoted the best British curry in continents as diverse as Europe and Asia, helping further chefs’ careers by showcasing British curry cuisine on a global stage.
Festival founder and editor of Curry Life magazine Syed Belal Ahmed said: “We are delighted to bring the British Curry Festival back to its roots in Dhaka where the curry trail started. People of Bangladeshi origin are historically known to have invented Britain’s most loved national dish of ‘Chicken Tikka Masala.’
“Hopefully, this festival will create the opportunity not only to showcase the best of British curry cuisine but also help our curry chefs bring fresh ideas to their menus here in the UK. by working alongside the culinary masters of Bangladesh.”
The event was previously known as the British Fusion Food Festival, later adapted to Taste of Britain Curry Festival and most recently the British Curry Festival.
Curry is famous all over the world and originated from the Indian sub-continent. The spice trade between the Indian sub-continent and Europe is often cited as the primary catalyst for curry houses or Indian restaurants in every major European city, including London. Curry now outsells most European foods, with the curry industry reportedly making a turnover of several billion pounds sterling annually.
It is estimated that there are 12,000 curry houses in Britain, and over 90% of them are run and operated by people of Bangladeshi origin.
A high profile delegation of restaurateurs will be travelling along with a VIP from the UK with the festival team. For those who wish to join this exciting culinary journey, please call or message Syed Ahmed on 07956 439458 for further details.
