Aloo Parantha, Dahi aur Achaar Striking the right balance between tradition and innovation can be tricky indeed, especially when you’re trying to revamp a classic. You need to be able to apply your vision to the dish so that it becomes undeniably yours, yet stay within a certain limit so that it is still recognizable…
Category: Dish Analysis
Panna Cotta Perfection
A plate with some meticulously piped dots and an untidy dollop, looking like a novice’s attempt at scooping ice-cream, arrives at the table. Confused, I ask the waiter what the dish is, and he shakes the plate a little. And something stirs at the edge of the plate. It’s a panna cotta. Of the two…
Red, White and Green
With its hues of red, white and green, it looked like the Italian flag on a plate. The colours of the dish were reinforced by a liberal dusting of dehydrated tomato, celery and asparagus around the plate. The burrata from the antipasti menu at Ottimo seemed like a literal embodiment of the old adage that…
Rustic Meets Trendy (Part 1)
Sarson da saag, Makki di roti aur Chaas In the last article on deconstruction (which you can check out here), we talked about the pros and cons of this culinary trend, how it can go terribly wrong and how it can completely transform a classic. We restricted ourselves to speculations and sketches with the analysis…
Anatomy of a Cheesecake
Deconstruction isn’t a brand-new concept, but it is a trend that is rapidly catching on, especially in the pastry kitchen. It is all about playing around with the presentation of a dish, while maintaining its overall taste and identity. The purists are strictly against it, always faulting it in some way or the other. Others…
Undercover Veggies
“Eat your veggies or you can’t have dessert”, might be one of the most common threats made at the dinner table. Indeed, dessert is everything that vegetables are not: it is sweet, it is delicious, and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside; while veggies, especially if made poorly, tend to be bland,…
Not Too Sweet (Part 2)
The sweet side of Miso and Wasabi In Part 1 of this two-part series, we looked at two desserts and saw how sourness and bitterness can elevate a dessert. This week, we will examine two other desserts which emphasize the role of other tastes in balancing out the sweetness in a dessert. Salt plays a…
Not Too Sweet (Part 1)
Sugar, Lime and Bitters Consider a gulab jamun, that magical orb of khoya or milk solids fried in hot oil and dunked in a sugar syrup. It has a thin crust and a rich, luscious interior. You could elevate it by flavouring the syrup with saffron, rosewater or cardamom; or by stuffing it with dry…
The Gourmet Glutton 