Increasingly ,Bengali wedding are becoming more adventurous and the humble salad has moved beyond the cucumber-onion-tomato combination. Today, it’s all about tossing up exotic concoctions using a variety of exotic vegetables live red cabbage with mayonnaise, shrimp with mustard and mayonnaise, pasta with while sauce. “Unlike even a decade ago, when wedding menus mainly concentrated on the fish-mutton-pulao combination, people want to try out different stuff today. Salad today is an important part of the wedding menu and nearly 70 percent of our clients want to make salad counters,” says Rabi Das, of Kalpana caterers. Sen, who have been in business for nearly 20 years, says it’s a relatively newer trend. “Nowadays people prefer grills and barbeques. Similarly a good salad counter with a layout that gives a variety of choices like whole and baby corn, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage and carrots along with a dips often becomes the attraction in a wedding,” continues Das.

A thought reiterated by Anupam Sengupta of Chef caterers. “Nearly 93 percent of my clients, be it a wedding or a party demand salad counters. Moreover, summer and winter salads are not much different and what is really popular these days is a live counter where we can customize the preparation,” says Sengupta.

Sanjay Singh of Munna Maharaj, which caters to some of the high profile Marwari weddings in the city feels that with the concept of wedding food becoming more global and fusion experiments with salads are only a part of that change. “The concept of fusion food includes salads too. From simple onions dipped in vinegar to a Ceaser’s or salad with Thousand Island dressing, the humble fruits and vegetables at marriages are being reinvented,” says Singh.

Most people, either for health reasons or to cut down on their calorie intake, are opting for a greener plate. Agrees Rongon Niyogi of Continental Catering Services; “People have become far more careful about their diet. Earlier guests would happily lap up everything on the table, but these days they are a lot more choosy about their food,” says Niyogi. To cater to such people he offers a spread of 8-10 different salads, like coleslaw, German potato salad and Italian pasta salad. That apart they also make a fruit basket with local and exotic varieties. But for those who love their salad sweet, they have imported a chocolate fountain, where people can opt for chocolate dressings with their fruits or vegetables.