More than 2,000 kg of exotic fish, berries and cheese, a couple of chefs who prepare the Nobel Banquet and opera singers will be flown into the country to celebrate the Sweden India Nobel Memorial week in the Capital.

When it started three years ago, the Swedish festival was hosted only in Delhi. But this year, five cities — Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai and New Delhi — will be hosting the celebrations that be held from October 31 to November 7, with an opera concert kicking off the festival in three cities, including Delhi.

“There is no Swedish restaurant in Delhi or anywhere else in India. The food festival is an opportunity for people to try out the cuisine,” the Ambassador of Sweden, Lars Olof Lindgren, said. “India’s links with Sweden go back a long time.”

In the 1960s, the first Swedish companies were established in India, and Delhi has the highest number of Swedish companies.

The Nobel dinner in Sweden is a famous event where the menu is a secret until the day of the dinner. Chefs will be preparing four dishes from last year’s dinner menu for the Memorial Week.

“We eat a lot of fish like herrings,” he said. “It’s more salty, but delicious.”

The cuisine incorporates a lot of international influences on top of Swedish basics like game and fish. “During the food festival at Taj Mansingh, we will substitute game with lamb because we can’t fly in the veal,” Lindgren said.

The food festival will be inaugurated at Taj Mansingh. The Nobel ceremonial dinner, that is broadcast live in almost a dozen countries, has a menu full of gourmet specialities prepared by 40 chefs who are at it for more than three days. The Nobel dinner will be hosted at Taj Mansingh in the city on November 6.

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