Aperitif as art

FOOD: France's Sopexa may just have given this fine concept a leg up in India.

Aperitif is an alien concept to the scotch-and-curry habituated, as most diners in India are. Yet, all is not lost.

Last week, a motley crowd gathered in New Delhi eager to partake of the wine and tidbits and conversation on offer, all for the cause of that very thing.

That very "thing", of course, is the fine art of taste-bud arousal as practiced with utmost sophistication in France.

And for the last three years, Sopexa, the one-of-its-kind French food and beverage promotion board, has been slowly trying to establish Aperitif a la Francaise as an annual festival of sorts in as many 28 cities globally.

It's done with near ritualistic dedication. On the first Thursday of every June, French food lovers in identified markets of Asia, Europe and America are invited to savour its spread of aperitifs and discover a cuisine beyond coq au vin "" all, of course, for the eventual benefit of French wine and food companies that may thus get an opportunity to wield their charm on that many more palates around the world.

As a calendar event, this perhaps parallels the uncorking of the Beaujolais Nouveau, first wine of the season, not particularly anything to savour but something that makes for much spectacle and excitement across the globe, on the third Thursday of November every year. The wine arrives on bicycles, ships and even elephants. But that's another story.

This is the second year for aperitifs in India.

"The challenge in India is to make people understand... that French food is not only about a four-course meal to be had with the correct silverware," says Rajeev Singhal, Sopexa's representative in India.

The body set up its office here only last year, underlining India's growing importance as a market for French food and drinks.

Singhal says that the outlay for promotional activities in India is "roughly half a million euros and we also ask partner companies to support us", the highest in Asia except for China.

That so much more French stuff is visible on import shelves in Indian metros is a part indication of Sopexa's success so far: from cheese and dairy products to frozen veggies and olives.

More recently, frozen kiwis have been allowed into the country, not to mention frozen bread, being sought to be marketed as a consumption option "" so that the croissant, say, is "consistent in taste" with its Parisian counterpart.

Food is all very good. But wine is the most important import from France. The imported wine market in India is only about 1,50,000 cases annually, 60 per cent of which is French wine.

"We are now focusing on not just the metros and big cities but also smaller towns," says Singhal. Places like Ludhiana and Chandigarh, and even Guwahati and Raipur.

And Sopexa plans plenty of activity for the rest of the year, including "gastronomic weeks in 4-5 big cities" and tastings in retail stores.

Bangalore recently saw a wine tasting session (with a qualified French sommelier) for people who walked into a Bangalore store to buy a bottle.

Delhi could be next. And that, as the original concept demands, is just a tantalising hint of more to come.