Around this time of the year, Tesagan Gin Jay or simply the Jay Festival, comes around, inspiring people to take a break on consuming animal products for about ten days.
For those who may not be familiar with what Jay Festival is, it's basically a vegetarian festival—also mostly popular in Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia—in which people will practice a strict diet scheme for about ten days wherein they will stop eating meat, poultry, seafood, and any animal products as well as refraining from alcoholic beverages and sex.
You may think this is pretty much like veganism, but eating jay also requires you to stay away from strongly smelly vegetables like coriander, onion, and garlic. All in all, the whole experience is to honor ten gods of Taoism, so you have to well behave physically and mentally.
Anyway, this year, one of the city’s legendary hotels has a big surprise in store for the festival, which takes place from October 16 to October 25. For the first time in 144 years, since it opened, the five-star Mandarin Oriental Bangkok will be taking part in the festival by releasing jay dishes at two of its restaurants.
Executive chef Dominique Bugnand teams up with chef de cuisines Martin Benton of Verandah and Nicholas Gannaway of Lord Jim’s to create jay food with a wow factor, both in taste and presentation.
Guests of all-day dining restaurant Verandah can enjoy a vegan poke bowl with mixed grains, beetroot, cucumber and marinated tofu, all of which are topped with vegan soya mayonnaise. It’s a light, healthy dish that refreshes with every bite.
The modern fine-dining fare at Lord Jim’s also gets a plant-based tweak. Chef Nicholas has come up with two vegan dishes that totally wow. The first is a capellini with an eggplant-based sauce that gets its umami taste from the addition of Japanese kombu. Next is a risotto with sauce made from chestnut mushrooms and pine nut butter.
On October 17, Mandarin Oriental will host a pop-up jay dinner consisting of seven courses (B1,800++.) Chef Dominique turns to his past experiences in several countries to create a completely plant-based international menu, which includes a Mexican-inspired baby corn dish, a Korean-influenced tofu dish, a vegan hamburger steak, and a rich dessert made with dark chocolate, tofu and coffee kombucha.
It’s extremely rare for a grand hotel to attach their name to this niche eating festival so it’s definitely a can’t-miss for gourmands and food lovers. Whether you’re a regular jay eater or one trying to explore the possibilities of meatless eating, Mandarin Oriental won’t let you down.