The Blogger’s Bunch at the #QualityITCFoods Meet

The Nervous Blogger

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Well, for me it was last Saturday when I was invited by ITC for a Food Blogger’s Meet in Bangalore. I was over the moon when I got the invite.. people are actually reading my stuff!!! Lalala! Super excited and super nervous, I walked into ITC Gardenia and I had no idea what to expect.

Question.. How do you make a food blogger happy?

Answer.. Make sure that the entrance to the event room is lined with gorgeous food!

All the food bloggers thus became click-aty crazy, and so did I. I finally felt like I’m in a space where people understand my incessant need to take pictures before I eat. After a whole bunch of pictures, I was finally ready to eat something.

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The Brand

ITC as a brand really needs no introduction. Knowingly or unknowingly, we use so many of the ITC products in our daily lives. From their Aashirwad aata to the Sunfeast biscuits to Bingo Mad Angles (which we learnt was inspired by the Gujrati Khakra! Who knew!) and even Mint-O, I think the average Indian household uses at least one of these products on a day-to-day basis. I for one, use the Aashirwad aata at home. I’m convinced that this is the best aata in the market and have been using it for years!

Mr. Rajesh VL, the CEO of ITC Foods took us through the journey from the conception of the foods division to where they are today and what their plans are for the future. Trust me, I’m super excited for them.

The Yippiee Journey

To be very honest, I had never tried YiPPee! noodles. I’ve grown up on Maggi and recently wrote an ode of sorts to it as well. (you can read about that here). Having been a diehard Maggi fan, I was a little apprehensive about trying something new. However, Ms. Chaturvedi’s story about the YiPPee journey had me rip of the packet and make it as soon as I got home.

Ms. Chaturvedi spoke about the three symbols of that define the noodles and that is how my story for the noodles will be structured.

  1. The Block

The YiPPee! noodle block is round so that it fits the bartan we cook it in without breaking the block. Why so? So that we have the long strands of noodles for slurrrrrpalicious deliciousness.

It fits!
It fits!

Result – Check!

  1. The Noodles

YiPPee! noodles claim to be non-sticky and non lumpy even when they get cold.

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Result – Errrmmm… didn’t get so far. I sort of lapped it up! *embarrassed face*

    1. The Masala

The masala for the noodles has been developed after a lot of research of what all people like to put in their noodles – like onions (my fav!), vegetables, sausages (hubby’s fav) and the most common of them all – ketchup.

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End result – a spicy blend of everything, including the vegetables and slightly ketchup-y flavour.

My Two Cents – I liked it! I made hubby have it as well.. and very reluctantly, he gave the nod.

What I take back most from this event is the fact that ITC is putting itself out there with their ‘You Ask We Answer’ campaign. They address everyone’s concerns about the safety of packaged foods, instant noodles especially and reassure the masses that their product is good to consume. They have set up a website where the consumers can ask all their questions and get them answered. Transparency is the key here for which they have also published their test reports. For the lazy bums like me, they have a series of  and a series of videos for the lazy bums (like me) on how the noodles are manufactured and all the naggy little questions that might be there in your head.

The Masterclass

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Chef Joshi’s YiPPee! noodles Khow Suey

Since we have our own renditions of instant noodles, Chef Joshi taught us how to take it to the next level with his YiPPee! noodle Khow Suey. The minute the broth was boiling, the room filled up with the inviting aroma of the dish. I had Khow Suey for lunch, and that’s all I wanted to have the whole time!

The Cook-Off

With the Masterclass done, it was time for the bloggers to put their chef hats on and cook off against each other.

The Contest – To make a dish with YiPPee! noodles.

Time – 20 mins

Here we go!

It was an amazing sight to see so many people cooking at the same time and each team had such innovative dishes that they made with the noodles. Our team made the YiPizza!

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Unfortunately we didn’t win. However, the winning team had a noodle Gol Guppa that I wish I had tried.

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The award-winning noodle Gol Guppa
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Noodle stuffed crepe by one of the teams
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Masala noodle papad! Who would’ve thunk!

The Devouress

With the cook off all of us had worked out quite an appetite. As soon as we entered the buffet area, all my eyes could see was the wonderful desert spread. I had some of the Khow Suey (which I loved!) and hit the dessert bar.. first with my camera and then with my spoon. Everything on that table was absolutely divine! I couldn’t wait to get back and update everything on Instagram. If you haven’t checked it out as yet.. here you are!

Proceed with caution your device is going to get covered with drool!

The Thankful

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Thank you for the amaaaaazing goody bag!

The afternoon spent with the ITC family was absolutely wonderful and had me thinking about how we approach food in our daily lives these days. Off late organic food has become all the rage. It’s all about the fresh produce and cooking as soon as you get the produce home. However, parallely, life has become so hectic that even if you make the effort of buying all the ‘organic fresh produce’, it sits rotting in your fridge before you realize what is in the vegetable drawer of your fridge.

Packaged food, in many forms, does become our saviour. Although I do not endorse consuming packaged food on a regular basis, it sure comes in handy on the days your cook takes a day off or work is so hectic that there is no time to breathe or when you just want to satisfy that craving of having a little junk food. Lol! But that’s just my two cents.. to each his own!

I would like to thank Ms. Gopika Kaul and the ITC family profusely for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful event. There is so much I learnt and met so many wonderful fellow bloggers. I went back home with a big smile on my face and a very happy tummy!