The Sheraton’s Gala
Dec 13, 2007
IN a vast imported Marquee at the back of the Sheraton hotel, 800 delegates to the Commonwealth Business Forum sat down to an agenda of five speeches at a ‘Gala Luncheon’ sponsored by Celtel, and a menu of four courses devised by the Kampala Sheraton’s Food and Beverage Manager from Ghana, Kwa
By Gusto Rowzer
IN a vast imported Marquee at the back of the Sheraton hotel, 800 delegates to the Commonwealth Business Forum sat down to an agenda of five speeches at a ‘Gala Luncheon’ sponsored by Celtel, and a menu of four courses devised by the Kampala Sheraton’s Food and Beverage Manager from Ghana, Kwashie Gbedemah.
This was the powerful culmination to the three day Business conference November 20-22,2007 , — running parallel with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. ‘Gala’ is a word of Italian origin meaning ‘Festive’. Sheraton and Celtelsucceeded in that meaning. The event was a feast. Calling it a ‘Luncheon’ instead of ‘Lunch’ shows they intended it to be posh.
If the menu was less interesting than the speeches, the chatter round the tables was such that the speeches were largely inaudible, while the food was at least imminent and edible. The courses opened with ‘Ugandan Smoked Beef plus a Pecan Nut Salad, followed by a main course Grilled Tilapia with a “Herb-Tomato Compote Sauce and “Saaga†Spinach. It’s unusual to have a compote and sauce together.
A compote is a stew, with palpable chunks in it, while a sauce is always smooth, with no lumps. The ‘saaga’, Kwashie’s staff explained to me later, is the Luganda word for spinach. It tasted good, just like it does in Canada,
UK and Australia.
The Pecan Nut Salad with the beef was
slightly too bland, a gourmet neighbour of
mine from Kenya opined. He thought the beef needed something sharper — like horseradish sauce.
Horseradish is imported I told him, —
though it could be grown in Uganda if
restaurants collaborated with Kawanda’s
NARO a bit. I would have preferred to see a groundnut sauce with the beef instead of imported pecan, — and it could be sharpened with home-grown tamarind, lemon or passion fruit juice.
The Gala Dessert as a third course was
“Warm Traditional Apple Strudel with
Fruit Wages†— which the Sheraton
explained, should have been printed as
“Fruit Wedgesâ€. He could not explain why the chef used imported apple instead of Ugandan mango or pineapple, -both of which make a perfectly delicious strudel, as the chef at the Grand Imperial has discovered. Bottles of Red and White wine were on the Gala tables:
A Cabernet Sauvignon from Boland, and the white Franshhoek Sauvignon, — both from South Africa. Sheraton’s Food &Beverage teame admitted they had not tasted or listed any Ugandan wines. Some are worth trying.
Wines are made from grape grown for the Eucharist by Italian priests in vineyards behind some Catholic churches in mainly northern Uganda where soils and climate are perfect for viticulture.
“If these wines are good enough for the
Mass, they are good enough for the
Marketâ€, a French Ambassador told
Cardinal Wamala years ago.
Food and Beverage Managers need to
explore and procure these local elixirs,
and help to develop them as alternatives
to imported wines and spirits.
The meal was a great achievement in
mass catering.
Amit Madhvani, property and industrial
mogul in Jinja, and Jagdish Thakkar, MD
of Riley the new packaging company in
Mukono ate the vegetable cutlet without
complaint, and drank mineral water or
Splash fruit juices instead of wines, — as did all the other Business Asians at this table. Instead of the fish, vegetarians at this feast could opt for a ‘Vegetable Cutlet’ as their main course.
Thakkar’s company supplies much of
the cardboard packaging for Uganda’s
expanding Food and Drink production,
using Kraft paper imported from Kenya.
Discussion of how packaging is the clue
to successful product marketing dominated the tail end of this Gala Luncheon.
It is much neglected, even by exporters
of durable and perishable goods.
As guests finished with “Freshly Brewed
Coffee and Tea†served with little French
cakes, called “Petit Fours†on the menu,
they exchanged business cards and
expected to drum up even more Business than the Commonwealth Secretary General might hope for.
IN a vast imported Marquee at the back of the Sheraton hotel, 800 delegates to the Commonwealth Business Forum sat down to an agenda of five speeches at a ‘Gala Luncheon’ sponsored by Celtel, and a menu of four courses devised by the Kampala Sheraton’s Food and Beverage Manager from Ghana, Kwashie Gbedemah.
This was the powerful culmination to the three day Business conference November 20-22,2007 , — running parallel with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. ‘Gala’ is a word of Italian origin meaning ‘Festive’. Sheraton and Celtelsucceeded in that meaning. The event was a feast. Calling it a ‘Luncheon’ instead of ‘Lunch’ shows they intended it to be posh.
If the menu was less interesting than the speeches, the chatter round the tables was such that the speeches were largely inaudible, while the food was at least imminent and edible. The courses opened with ‘Ugandan Smoked Beef plus a Pecan Nut Salad, followed by a main course Grilled Tilapia with a “Herb-Tomato Compote Sauce and “Saaga†Spinach. It’s unusual to have a compote and sauce together.
A compote is a stew, with palpable chunks in it, while a sauce is always smooth, with no lumps. The ‘saaga’, Kwashie’s staff explained to me later, is the Luganda word for spinach. It tasted good, just like it does in Canada,
UK and Australia.
The Pecan Nut Salad with the beef was
slightly too bland, a gourmet neighbour of
mine from Kenya opined. He thought the beef needed something sharper — like horseradish sauce.
Horseradish is imported I told him, —
though it could be grown in Uganda if
restaurants collaborated with Kawanda’s
NARO a bit. I would have preferred to see a groundnut sauce with the beef instead of imported pecan, — and it could be sharpened with home-grown tamarind, lemon or passion fruit juice.
The Gala Dessert as a third course was
“Warm Traditional Apple Strudel with
Fruit Wages†— which the Sheraton
explained, should have been printed as
“Fruit Wedgesâ€. He could not explain why the chef used imported apple instead of Ugandan mango or pineapple, -both of which make a perfectly delicious strudel, as the chef at the Grand Imperial has discovered. Bottles of Red and White wine were on the Gala tables:
A Cabernet Sauvignon from Boland, and the white Franshhoek Sauvignon, — both from South Africa. Sheraton’s Food &Beverage teame admitted they had not tasted or listed any Ugandan wines. Some are worth trying.
Wines are made from grape grown for the Eucharist by Italian priests in vineyards behind some Catholic churches in mainly northern Uganda where soils and climate are perfect for viticulture.
“If these wines are good enough for the
Mass, they are good enough for the
Marketâ€, a French Ambassador told
Cardinal Wamala years ago.
Food and Beverage Managers need to
explore and procure these local elixirs,
and help to develop them as alternatives
to imported wines and spirits.
The meal was a great achievement in
mass catering.
Amit Madhvani, property and industrial
mogul in Jinja, and Jagdish Thakkar, MD
of Riley the new packaging company in
Mukono ate the vegetable cutlet without
complaint, and drank mineral water or
Splash fruit juices instead of wines, — as did all the other Business Asians at this table. Instead of the fish, vegetarians at this feast could opt for a ‘Vegetable Cutlet’ as their main course.
Thakkar’s company supplies much of
the cardboard packaging for Uganda’s
expanding Food and Drink production,
using Kraft paper imported from Kenya.
Discussion of how packaging is the clue
to successful product marketing dominated the tail end of this Gala Luncheon.
It is much neglected, even by exporters
of durable and perishable goods.
As guests finished with “Freshly Brewed
Coffee and Tea†served with little French
cakes, called “Petit Fours†on the menu,
they exchanged business cards and
expected to drum up even more Business than the Commonwealth Secretary General might hope for.