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| SURTIDO DE IBERICOS |
I had two very interesting meals some days ago. Both showcased delicacies of Europe. But there was a difference. The first meal was a toast to ingredients that you don’t get in India. The second was a feast that celebrated local ingredients. Next week, I’ll tell you about the second experience, but this week I want to look at a change that’s been gaining ground in recent years.
There was a time, if you remember, when most ingredients had to be imported to India because we just didn’t have any of the good stuff. Then India opened its doors, and everything that you wanted was available in some departmental store somewhere. Now, once again, a section of top chefs is looking at importing some of the most precious ingredients to use in hotel kitchens. It’s been happening for a while — but some high-end chefs are trying to bring in everything that enhances the taste.
“People once used to say: ingredients are ingredients,” says Neeraj Tyagi, the executive chef of The Claridges in Delhi. “But a special ingredient gives you the special taste that a normal ingredient just doesn’t.”
That is why the chef imports some of the most expensive and coveted cheeses and hams from places such as Italy and Spain. Not just that, he has been getting fresh tomatoes from Italy and England to give a special taste to the dishes that are served in Sevilla, the hotel’s Spanish restaurant.
Those who like their Pata Negra ham know the difference that the Bellota reserve Iberian ham, which the chef arranges in a platter of cured meats, can make to a dish. “The meat is softer and tastier because the fat is well distributed in it,” the chef points out.
The Chorizo Iberico comes from the Iberian pig too. This pig leads a lonely but energetic life. In some farms, the Iberian pig lives by himself in an acre of land. Every day, his food — fresh acorns — are placed in one end of the land. The poor pig runs all the way for his meal. The next day, the acorns are put on the other end — so the pig has to run across the field again. The net result is a pig that’s athletic and meat that’s tastier. “It’s nutty and melt-in-the-mouth,” the chef says reverentially.
Many other chefs are importing their special ingredients too. The executive chef of the Oberoi Grand in Calcutta, Saurav Banerjee, tells me that they have been getting their Dover sole from England, their cepes, porcini, olive oil, truffle oil and truffle from Italy, and all their fresh ingredients for Thai food from Thailand because of the difference that good ingredients make to the taste of food.
“People are travelling and they know about good tastes. And they want something special when they come to our restaurants,” he says.
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| Ventresca DE ORTIZ |
Of course, these ingredients are expensive — some of the hams cost more than Rs 8000 a kilo, some of the tomatoes are for Rs 2000 a kilo, and the tuna Ventresca that chef Tyagi gets from Spain, which he presents with edible flowers from France and melon from Japan, is for Rs 1000 for 100 grams. But once you have eaten this tuna belly, you know how vastly superior it is in terms of taste, texture and colour to the ordinary tuna.
“But if you do something exclusive, people don’t mind paying,” says chef Banerjee.
The other issue that chefs have to keep in mind is storage. Since the ingredients are flown in once a week, or sometimes once a fortnight, they have to be stored well — or else the expensive items will lose their freshness. For the tomatoes, for instance, chef Tyagi follows a strict regimen. The tomatoes are not handled with bare hands. They are carefully cleaned with chlorine and then wrapped in tissue so that moisture doesn’t gather.
It’s not just that the ingredients cost money, but if not stored well, they’ll lose just what they are being imported for — their taste. “And we need the Wow factor,” chef Banerjee says.
Fresh Burrata cheese and tomatoes (serves two)
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Ingredients:
• 450g burrata cheese • 10ml extra virgin olive oil • 3g basil leaves • 5ml balsamic vinegar • salt and pepper to taste • 30g beefsteak tomato • 20g yellow cherry tomato • 25g heirloom tomato • 30g green tomato • 20g red cherry tomato
Method:
Cut the beefsteak tomato, and the yellow and red cherry tomatoes into two halves. Add wedges of green tomatoes. Place all the cut tomatoes in a mixing bowl, and then season with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar to the tomatoes. Toss it all together and add fresh torn basil to the bowl. Place all the tomatoes in a salad bowl and put the fresh burrata cheese on top. Garnish with small basil leaves, basil oil and fresh cracked pepper and serve.
