India’s first food train is here. The Kurkure Family Express, a promotional train by PepsiCo traversed the length and breadth of the country. Starting from Delhi, the train made pit stops along the way at Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The journey flagged off at the Safdarjung train station in Delhi to the beats of Nagadas as the hosts, the ebullient Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma of Highway on my Plate fame welcomed the winning families aboard.
An one of a kind concept that brought together two of India’s pastimes together, travelling in trains and eating, the Kurkure Family Express started off with selection of 40 families through competitions held all over the country. Ten families from every one of the cities were then taken aboard the Kurkure Family Express to participate in a variety of contests ultimately selecting the winning family for a trip to Europe.
Day 1 of our journey from Delhi to Mumbai was a fascinating one indeed. With Rocky and Mayur holing fort in the entertainment bogey with games like Kurkure Carrom which included tossing Kurkure pieces into a bowl placed in the centre of a Carrom Board. Kurkure as a brand, has undergone further expansion taking under it’s umbrella the erstwhile brands of Lehar. With this expansion along with introduction of new flavours, Kurkure now has 150 flavours so that you will have an apt flavour for every situation.
Not only did PepsiCo play the perfect hosts, but IRCTC the onboard catering service of Indian Railways played a superb part in making the journey a memorable one. The first round of games was followed by an interaction with the families along with Rocky and Mayur followed by an excellent Lunch courtesy of the Pantry Car aboard the Kurkure Family Express.
The evening stop at Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan yielded some Kachoris and Samosas while IRCTC served us a plethora of dishes using Kurkure as the main ingredient. We in the meantime raided the cartons of Kurkure along with Rocky and Mayur trying out their new range of puffcorns and other new flavours. The night descended on us as the Kurkure Family Express chugs along the tracks amid some thrilling conversations and a bundle of laughter along with the winning families till it was time for lights out.
The next morning wakes us up with the bustling smells of Surat. We all combine over some plates of Poha, Khakras and Vada Pav to take up the authentic taste of Gujarat. Veteran Bollywood star Annu Kapoor joined up from Surat and enthralled the families with snippets from Bollywood. Though most of it was more of politically correct whispers heard around town instead of some controversial juicy tit bits, but it nevertheless kept spirits upbeat.
The final competition of the journey included a recipe relay which comprised of the family members being blindfolded and add one ingredient each to the bowl of Kurkure. The concept of the food train is something that needs to be applauded with the increase in food tourism all over the world. PepsiCo, IRCTC and Bloggers Mind deserves a big round of applause for successfully curating an event of such a grand scale.
