Ice creams will add Indian spice to Kingussie food festival

Exotic ice creams blending the flavours of Scotland and India will be served at a Food on Film festival in Kingussie next February.

The festival organisers commissioned chef Steven Anderson of Anderson’s Restaurant in Boat of Garten to come up with three original ice cream flavours celebrating the fusion of the two cultures for their ‘Bollywood in Badenoch’ film night.

The Saturday-night screening at Talla Nan Ros on February 4 will be the Scottish premiere of a Canadian film made in India called ‘Cooking With Stella’.

The film is a light-hearted, satirical social comedy about an unsuspecting couple in the Canadian Diplomatic Service, posted to New Delhi, who inherit a household of Indian servants headed by the charming but wily cook, Stella.

Mr Anderson was delighted to rise to the challenge, and has come up with ‘Whisky Chai’ – Spiced Indian Tea with Dalwhinnie Malt Whisky – as well as Mango Lassi and Kesar Pista Kulfi.

He will be serving the ice creams to filmgoers in the interval from his ice cream tricycle, which will be decked out Delhi-style.

Mr Anderson said: "The flavours came out of a conversation between myself and the sous chef. We developed and tried out some ideas to see what happened.

"Through a lot of trial and error, I think we have come up with three cracking ice creams.

"The idea behind the Whisky Chai was to create something like a hot toddy. Whisky lends itself well to spices, and whisky and tea go quite well together."

He added: "Mango Lassi is a delicious Indian yoghurt-based drink, and we thought it would work really well as an ice cream, while Kesar Pista Kulfi is an ice cream version of ice lollies made with pistachio nuts and saffron, which are sold on street corners in India.

"All of the flavours will give people at the festival a chance to try something a bit different."

Also on the menu at the event will be Indian dancing from the Badenoch Bollywood Babes.

They were recently featured in the ‘Strathy’, as well as on STV and BBC Scotland, dancing on the platform at Kingussie station to launch the Ruthven Road Picturehouse season with a screening of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

One of the festival’s organisers, Helen Graham, said: "We are hoping for a packed venue for our cross-cultural celebration of Scotland and India!"

For more information about Kingussie’s Food on Film Festival from February 2 to 5, visit the website at www.kingussiefoodonfilm.co.uk

Tickets will be on sale for three weeks from January 14 at the Food on Film box office; from Caberfeidh Horizons Bookshop at 16 High Street, Kingussie; by phoning (01540) 661000 or by e-mailing info@caberfeidhhorizons.com

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