PRAWN PIRI PIRI

It was my sister-in-law’s birthday — and I’d accepted the invitation to dine with them with a singing heart. Not just because she’s my most favourite Punjabi relative, but also because I was looking forward to the dinner that had been prepared by a Dutch chef. I had earlier eaten a wonderful Italian meal that he had catered, and I knew this one wouldn’t disappoint me either.

It didn’t. The lamb that he had cooked — roast leg roulade with a green pepper sauce — was out of this world. I, of course, got into a food conversation with Chef Raymond Wasser, and we discussed the way he had cooked the lamb and the other dishes. And then, in the midst of all the recipes, he told me that he had worked out the menu for a new restaurant in Calcutta’s Astor Hotel.

LIME COUS COUS WITH GRILLED VEGETABLES

So Chef Wasser’s food is now available at Plush. And I am happy to see that some of the dishes I enjoyed — the roast lamb and prawn piri piri — figure in the menu, along with a host of other favourites such as penne with blue cheese and vodka, lime cous cous with grilled vegetables and roast lamb with red wine jus.

I’ll come back to the chef, but let me first tell you about his prawn piri piri. It’s a little different from the way I cook it, because he likes to add a dash of cream to the dish. But the prawns were excellent — soft and tender, and infused with a hot sauce.

Chef Raymond mastered the art of cooking at a French bistro while he was studying law

For this, take 250gm prawns (about seven pieces), and de-shell and de-vein them. Sauté onions (30gm) and garlic (15gm) in olive oil. Add the prawns. When the prawns are almost done, add chilli flakes (5gm), cream (20ml) and white wine (10ml). Add 20gm of piri piri (Portuguese red chilli). Serve the prawns with herb tossed rice and vegetables.

Chef Raymond, who runs a catering outfit in Delhi called Bon Appetit, learnt a great many traditional European dishes in his mother’s kitchen while growing up in The Netherlands.

He went to the University in Utrecht to study law, but continued to feed his culinary passion. “While studying at the university, I began working at a French bistro — and continued to do so after my degree,” he says. “It is here that I mastered the art of cooking and management.”

ROAST LEG OF LAMB ROULADE WITH GREEN PEPPER SAUCE

He moved with his Indian wife to India in 1993 — and since then has been cooking largely for the expat and diplomatic community, catering special meals for the American embassy, the Australian, British and Canadian High Commissions, for the Dutch, French, German and Italian embassies, the European Union and so on.

The chef cooks multi-cuisine, but his speciality is Mediterranean food. So when he grills his chicken, he likes to do it like the Cypriots. When he bakes fish, he prefers to serve it with a chilli orange and citrus sauce — fruits of the Mediterranean region. For this baked fish dish (to serve one), he takes a 200gm fish steak, 15ml lemon juice, 5gm salt and pepper, 60gm each of green and yellow zucchini and carrots, 80ml orange juice and 10ml white wine. He marinates the fish with lemon juice, and then bakes it in an oven till the fish is tender. The sauce is prepared by heating orange juice, white wine and chilli flakes. He pours this over the fish, and then serves it with herb tossed rice and vegetables.

BAKED FISH IN ORANGE CHILLI CITRUS

For several weeks, he has been travelling to Calcutta to get the Plush menu in order. Plush, he says, will turn into a lively lounge bar before and after dinner. So the city’s young can have a good time there, and foodies can have an excellent meal. He is great with desserts as well, so those with a sweet tooth can try out his orange caramel custard and panna cotta. I love his chilled lemon pie — which is as soft as it is light.

We foodies love to share our experiences, so I am indeed happy to know that Calcuttans will get to taste his food. Bon Appétit, as the chef would say. Eat well. And, oh yes, have a great food-filled year.

Slow-cooked Mediterranean vegetable ragout with herb paella

30gm aubergine
5gm each thyme, basil and parsley
15ml olive oil
5gm garlic
5gm onion
15gm green bell pepper
15gm yellow bell pepper
45gm red bell pepper
20gm asparagus
20ml cream
40gm risotto rice
10gm cauliflower
25ml balsamic vinegar
Saffron, a few strands
10ml white wine

Method

Sauté onion and garlic for the paella. Add cooked rice, chopped parsley, basil, thyme, saffron water and season. For the ragout, cut the vegetables barring the aubergine and the peppers into small cubes. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add the cubed vegetable. When done, add white wine and cream. Cut the aubergine into half, scoop out the inner flesh and deep fry a cup. For the balsamic glaze, reduce balsamic vinegar. For the bell pepper coulis, roast the pepper and make a paste.

To serve, place the herbed paella in the centre of a plate and a portion of the vegetable ragout on the side in a 5 ’ clock position. Take the aubergine cup and fill it with the remaining ragout and place it on top of paella. Put the balsamic glaze and the bell pepper coulis on the sides of the plate.       

Courtesy: Chef Rajib Mitra,
Plush, Astor Hotel,
Photographs by Rashbehari Das