There is a good chance that you might have seen the increasingly popular Paneer dumpling or Kalabhuna pizza on social media, or maybe even in person if you are lucky. Fusion foods, especially Bangladeshi fusions, are becoming increasingly popular in the key metropolitans.
Fusion cuisine is created by combining styles of cooking from different cultures to make a new kind of dish. Some of these meals might seem like an odd pairing, such as Ilish (Hilsa) Pizza or Kalabhuna Dumpling. We don’t usually perceive Ilish as a topping for pizza, but people loved the dish especially those who love the fish. The whole point of fusion is to put different culinary dishes together to make something great.
So, by keeping in mind the trend of the cross-cultural culinary mash-ups, Le Méridien Dhaka has recently organized a 7-day event for ‘Bengali Fusion’ night at their restaurant called Olea. This Arabian-Mediterranean themed restaurant, whose name translates to “lemon olive”, was named aptly.
The interior and ambiance of the restaurant are set by following the theme. The ambient playfulness of luminosity creates a composed atmosphere preparing the guests for the culinary marvel to be experienced.
As the Sous Chef at Olea, Md. Moniruzzaman had created some of the most artistic fusion experiments with Bangladeshi cuisine for the ‘Bengali Fusion’ night. It takes breaking through walls of habitual conditioning of many generations and a mad leap of faith to serve Asian Noodle Samosa, Seafood Biriyani Arancini with Saffron Aioli, Chicken Tandoori Sushi, or Gulab Jamun Cheesecake.
Chef Moniruzzaman describes his food as ‘Bangladeshi cuisine with an international accent or world cuisine with Bangladeshi accent’. Either way, it was a praiseworthy creation that left the diners craving for more. He made art copulate with science to produce modern Bangladeshi masterpieces of tantalizing textures and flavors.
In every exotic dish he creates, the chef’s primary ingredient is his roots along with combining the techniques he has acquired over the years by working in renowned international hotels like Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai and Four Seasons Hotel in Qatar. His small-town upbringing in Pabna forms the base notes of taste in his experimental departure from traditional recipes. He glazes his food with memories of flavors from his growing up years.
He developed the menu of the ‘Bengali Fusion’ to instill the Bangladeshi delicacies into global cuisines. Throughout history, the local dishes have been influenced by many foreign cuisines such as Portuguese, Persian, British, and many more. So, combining our traditional ingredients with foreign cuisines can enhance the taste of the delectable dishes, especially if it is made by culinary experts like Chef Md. Moniruzzaman.
The ‘Bengali Fusion’ event showed us how combining simple Bangladeshi ingredients with foreign cuisines can create a plethora of palatable dishes. This is not the first time Le Méridien Dhaka has organized something out of ordinary.
The chefs of the hotel have the reputation of taking culinary arts to the next level with their creative ideas and techniques. Hence, the eateries of Le Méridien Dhaka can be perceived as a benchmark for creating unique concoctions while staying at the root of our heritage.