FIVVH and WGSHA Manipal organizes fruit mixing ceremony for Christmas cakes

Mangalore Today News Network

Manipal, Nov 28: The Fortune Inn Valley View Hotel (FIVVH) and the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA) welcomed the Christmas season by organizing the fruit mixing ceremony for Christmas cakes and puddings at FIVVH in the backdrop of carol singing and a decorated Christmas tree.

Dr. Kumkum Garg, the director of the Manipal Institute of Technology, and Dr. P. L. N. G. Rao, the director (quality and compliance) of Manipal University, inaugurated the event and were thefirst to begin the ceremony of mixing fruits. Since the event has evoked a lot of interest, A. Gopi Mohan Nair, the general manager of FIVV, and P. Gopalakrishnan, the principal of WGSHA, said that the fruit mixing ceremony will be held on a grander scale next year. Vasanthan Signamany, the associate professor (bakery) of WGSHA, spoke about the tradition of fruit mixing and the significance of the good luck charms hidden among the fruits.

Everybody at the fruit mixing ceremony was asked to wear a chef’s cap, an apron, and gloves and search for coins, rings, and thimbles hidden in a pile of cashew nuts, pistachio, almonds,
sultanas, walnuts, seedless dates, prunes, figs, dry cherries, apricots, candied lemon and orangepeels and cinnamon on a 14-foot long table. The coins, rings, and thimbles are good luck charms; and the person who finds the coin will win riches and prosperity, the one who finds the ring will get married, and the one who finds the thimble will lead a saintly or single life.

In the process of hunting for the good luck charms, the fruits got all mixed up with a bit of brandy and rum. The soaked and mixed fruits were then tied in hygienic bags, where they will remain for one month, during which the fruit mix will develop a rich flavor great for making puddings and cakes.