Christmas Banter 2016 at the Imperial, Delhi

It is that time of the year when the world gets into the festive mood; its time to celebrate Christmas and bring in the New Year. The Imperial, New Delhi celebrated Christmas Banter on 16th December and I was invited to the event. This was my second Christmas Banter celebration with them and I love the event.

The Imperial’s lobby has a festive look with a beautiful red and white Christmas theme. Throughout the public areas Christmas spirit is visible in the decorations!

The high tea had traditional Christmas goodies ranging from Christmas Pudding with Brandy sauce, Strawberry and Passion fruit jelly; Pandoro bread with Mascarpone cheese; scones filled with clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam; dipped chocolate strawberry; minced pie and more with Mulled wine. I loved the pudding and the dipped chocolate strawberry!

Chef Prem K Pogakula – Executive Sous Chef The Imperial New Delhi interacted with the bloggers and they shared the recipe of making of Lemon Posset, Flambéed Christmas pizza and 5 ingredient chocolate brownie  with us. Last year they shared a simple recipe of making a mug cake which even I was able to do! I quite enjoy their recipe sharing session.

Then Chef Rakesh Rana weaved his magic, he made his special Flambéed Christmas Pizza in the outdoor wood fired oven at San Gimignano.

I was skeptical about a pizza which had chocolate, raisins and other such stuff. I was anyway so full by then. I took a slice to share with others. But in the end, I ate the whole slice, it was delicious! ho knew Pizza can be a dessert too!

The event closed with Santa joining the festive cheer and giving us Christmas goodies! It was a beautiful event which I loved being part of both this year and the last!

The Imperial, New Delhi is offering a variety of festive dining treats on 24th and 25th December and then on 31st December and 1st January. Do check out their website or call them for more details.

It is almost Christmas time and the atmosphere is festive all around me. I was invited a Christmas Banter at The Imperial Delhi. It was a pleasure to be a part of the festivities.

The event was organized at the San Gimignano Restaurant. As usual I felt a bit jittery because it was a food event. Now that never happens when I travel! I was greeted by Ruchi and Aparupa from the marketing team. Aparupa told me she subscribes to my blog! I replied, “that is a bit unnerving, because you just write what catches your fancy, not thinking about who is going to read it!” She protest that there was so need for me to be nervous!

After about five minutes I was drawn in the festive atmosphere and I was happily munching away at the the large spread of Christmas goodies!

I actually showed my plate to Ruchi saying “there goes my one month worth of workout at least!” She told me I didn’t need to workout but that is not true!

They held a Christmas quiz about food. I probably opened my mouth only once with a wrong answer!

The spread had macaroons, Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, ratatouille tartlets, mincemeat pies, cheese fondue, monte cristo, hummus and cream cheese pinwheel sandwiches and much more. It was not possible even to taste everything. And I have not talked about the non-vegetarian options at all!

Chef Prem Kumar and his team demonstrated how to make mug cakes in microwave to all of us. I could not figure it out exactly then but when I came home I googled it!

He then brought out a Baked Alaska! It is an ice-cream and cake dish. The egg shells had brandy in it and it was set on fire! That gave the dish a slightly burned outer shell. It tasted divine.

A while later Santa Claus made an appearance and gave away Christmas goodies, which was a gorgeous Gingerbread Hut! I was traveling back home by the metro and I feared for its safety. It was past six pm when I boarded a Gurgaon bound metro from Rajiv Chowk. Thankfully the metros going to Gurgaon in the evening are not that crowded.

The hut was the talk of the ladies coach. So many people asked me what was it and where did I get it from? One college going girl asked me if I was a blogger when I told her it was a gift from The Imperial! She said she followed bloggers on Instagram!

I found a massive traffic jam at IFFCO Chowk but that was to be expected. Chhavi was almost asleep when I reached but I showed her the hut. She pranced around it for 15 minutes, gave me a strict warning, not to break it and then went to sleep. I managed to get the hut home in one piece in the end.

The next day inspired by the event, I followed a mug cake recipe at home. It has been a hit with everyone. And if I can make it, anyone can make it! It just requires a microwave. Chhavi demanded it again today! Maybe, the taste buds I lost to hostel food all those years back, they are getting revived with travel and good food in town!

And here is to all of us, a Merry Christmas and the very best for 2016! May you have a bright festival season and lots of cheer!