BRIE DE MEAUX WITH WHITE TRUFFLE

I met chef Francis Luzinier several months ago, and we got along like a house on fire. I told him that I thought French food was one of the best cuisines, and got the impression that he disagreed with me a bit. It was THE best cuisine, the Frenchman from Australia — now working in Delhi — seemed to suggest.

I have other favourites too — and so does the chef, as he later told me over an excellent meal of French dishes one fine evening in Delhi. But French food, we both agree, is in a class of its own. And unfortunately, there are very few French restaurants in India. A few brave French eateries opened up but downed their shutters over time. Somehow, the Indian palate — which can’t have enough of Chinese, Mexican and Mediterranean food — can’t seem to take to the wonderfully subtle nature of French food.

Chef Francis, who is the head of operations, F&B, at The Lalit in New Delhi, bemoans this as well. French food can’t take off in India if the diner is not ready to let go off chillies, he argues. “You have to educate the people,” he says. “You can’t always eat your food doused with sauces!”

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I found the reference interesting, for the chef kick started his career with a great interest in sauces. He had such a deft hand in preparing sauces as a young man that he caught the attention of his seniors — who encouraged him to move from one place to another. But the wonderful dinner that he’d prepared for us at The Lalit what almost without sauces. The joue de boeuf — with baby carrots and a creamy mount of mashed potatoes — came in a thick gravy cooked with red wine, but almost everything else was sauceless. Yet, it was all delicious!

His preparations of snail (escargot sounds so much better!) were superb. For une gelee d’escargot a ’aneth, he had wrapped snails and tiny hard-boiled quail eggs with jelly and flavoured them with dill. He put chopped snails in a puff pastry and in another offering he baked them with cheese into a vol-au-vent (bouchee d’escargot au fromage de Chevre).

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The chef gets most of his ingredients from France when he is cooking a French meal. And that, I can tell you, makes a difference. The French butter that he uses, for instance, adds the kind of creamy richness that you won’t get with Indian butter. That’s because French butter is more fatty, while the water content in Indian butter is very high. And of course you just can’t compare Indian cheeses with their superior French counterparts. The Brie de Meaux aux truffes — Brie stuffed with chopped truffles, served with toasted walnut bread — was to die for.

Chef Francis, who has quite a caustic sense of humour, believes that unless people learn to appreciate the understated nature of French food, they’ll never take to it. For that, they have to temporarily forego their taste for strong seasonings. The chef is such a purist that he doesn’t even like the presence of a salt and pepper mill on the table. “Trust the chef — he has got it right for you. Don’t go meddling with the pepper mill the moment your food arrives on the table.”

I tend to think that people get a bit intimidated with French food. I don’t think you need to — because our rich cuisine is not just all about chillies; we have our share of delicate dishes too. But we both agree on one thing — food is all in the mind. Open your mind, and your taste buds will open too.

“For me, food is all about flavour and taste — and passion,” says chef Francis. And I can vouch for that.

Poitrine de canard fumee sur lit de pomme de terre sarladaise, miel et truffes (serves 4)

(Smoked duck breast with sautéed potatoes, honey and truffle)

Ingredients

• 250-300g duck breast • 400g cooked and sliced potatoes • 120g French cepes (mushrooms) • 5g chopped garlic • 20g finely chopped red onion • 10g finely chopped parsley • 60g duck fat • 5ml honey • 1 small truffle (optional)

Method:

Smoke the duck breast for 30 minutes. In a pan, roast the duck skin side down for five minutes, then turn it over and cook for another five minutes. Pre-heat an oven at 180° C. Bake the duck in the oven for eight minutes. The duck should be pink (medium) when you take it out. Keep aside for five minutes. Sauté the sliced potatoes in the duck fat till golden all over. Add the garlic, onion and cepes. Cook together for five minutes. Add the parsley and check seasoning. Toss it well. To serve present the sautéed potatoes in the centre of the plate with the sliced duck pieces (2-3 slices per person) on it. Drizzle with honey and add the truffle for garnish if you wish to.

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma